A session at this year's Euroanaesthesia congress in Geneva, Switzerland (3-5 June) will focus on the international variation in the definition of death, which experts say must be cleared up to restore both public and professional confidence, and also to help improve management of patients at the end of life to improve successful organ donation.

"With all the modern technology that exists today, one would think that determination of death should be a straightforward matter," says Giuseppe Citerio, Professor of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the Milano Bicocca University, School of Medicine and Surgery, Milan, Italy.

"Despite it being more than 40 years since the concept of 'brain death' was first introduced into clinical practice, many of the controversies that surround the determination of death by neurological criteria (DNC) have not been settled and this presents an opportunity for future research and education to clarify outstanding issues in order to reduce professional and public disquiet."