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Purpose: The shortage of organs for transplantation is an important medical and societal problem because transplantation is often the best therapeutic option for end-stage organ failure. Methods: We review the potential deceased organ donation pathways in adult ICU practice, i.e. donation after brain death (DBD) and controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD), which follows the planned withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments (WLST) and subsequent confirmation of death using cardiorespiratory criteria. Results: Strategies in the ICU to increase the number of organs available for transplantation are discussed. These include timely identification of the potential organ donor, optimization of the brain-dead donor by aggressive management of the physiological consequence of brain death, implementation of cDCD protocols, and the potential for ex vivo perfusion techniques. Conclusions: Organ donation should be offered as a routine component of the end-of-life care plan of every patient dying in the ICU where appropriate, and intensivists are the key professional in this process.

Introduction and Methods: This report summarizes the results of the first phase in the development of international guidelines for death determination, focusing on the biology of death and the dying process, developed by an invitational forum of international content experts and representatives of a number of professional societies. Results and Conclusions: Precise terminology was developed in order to improve clarity in death discussion and debate. Critical events in the physiological sequences leading to cessation of neurological and/or circulatory function were constructed. It was agreed that death determination is primarily clinical and recommendations for preconditions, confounding factors, minimum clinical standards and additional testing were made. A single operational definition of human death was developed: 'the permanent loss of capacity for consciousness and all brainstem functions, as a consequence of permanent cessation of circulation or catastrophic brain injury'. In order to complete the project, in the next phase, a broader group of international stakeholders will develop clinical practice guidelines, based on comprehensive reviews and grading of the existing evidence. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg and ESICM.