An observational study in Brain Death and Adults, sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. Recruiting at 2 sites in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-17.
Sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland · Observational
The aim of the study is to verify the reliability of the current purely clinical examination of the pupils (without the support of a pupillometer) in the context of clinically suspected brain death, compared to the results of a non-invasive, automated, and highly precise monocular pupillometric examination.
This prospective quality control study will evaluate the reliability of the clinical exam regarding pupils' reaction to light (as performed by two board certified physicians in Neurology and/or Intensive Care Medicine) as recommended by the SAMW guidelines for brain death diagnosis (SAMW-guidelines) when compared to the results of a noninvasive automated and highly-precise pupillometry in adult patients with clinically suspected brain death. Automated pupillometric measurements will be performed by the PI (RS), or the co-investigator (Dr. Pascale Grzonka) using the NeurOptics® NPi®-200 pupillometer system immediately before and after the standardized diagnostic workup for suspected brain death. In addition, demographics, clinical characteristics , treatment and laboratory data from the patients examined will be anonymously collected.
74 studies on the registry are indexed under Brain Death; 10 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 50 is below the median of 80 across 33 observational studies indexed under Brain Death.
Browse Brain Death studies →University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland is the lead sponsor of 990 studies on the registry; 189 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The patient population is defined as all adult patients (i.e. ≥18 years of age) treated on the intensive care unit at the University Hospital Basel (USB) in whom the treating physicians suspect brain death and plan to perform brain death diagnostic procedures.
Inclusion Criteria:
non-invasive device-supported, automated pupillometry with a precise quantitative measurement of the pupils within the range of micrometers
Reliability of clinical examination of pupils in patients with suspected brain death
Determination of the reliability of the current purely clinical examination of the pupils (without the support of a pupillometer) in the context of clinically suspected brain death compared to the results of a noninvasive, automated, and highly precise pupillometric examination (measurement of the discordance between automated analyses of pupillary light reflex by a hand-held pupillometer and visual examination without pupillometer support in percentage)
Time frame: baseline (2 hours before start of brain death evaluation) and 5 hours (2 hours after end of brain death evaluation)
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland →