My Mother, Host
Quite a story today concerning a 26-year-old pregnant woman with cancer, whose brain function ceased last month. She is being kept alive with a respirator in hopes she can have a premature baby who may have a chance to survive. Susan Torres, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, lost consciousness early last month when an undiagnosed brain tumor caused a stroke. Her husband, Jason Torres, says doctors told him Susan's brain functions have stopped, but decided to keep his wife on life support even after doctors at Virginia Hospital Center determined that she would not recover. The baby Susan Torres was carrying when she had her stroke appears to be thriving after nearly 21 weeks of gestation. Her husband says if she can stay alive another month, and the cancer stays away from her uterus, the baby could be delivered and have a chance of surviving. The couple has a 2 year old son.contribute a comment
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This story can add confusion to the public's understanding of what is the signifcance of brain death. Since a person who is diagnosed as brain dead is dead, stories that include the words "keeping her alive" is misleading. What the treatments are doing in a brain dead pregnant woman is keeping the baby alive. ..Maurice.
- by Maurice Bernstein, M.D. on Jun 17, 2005 at 3:52 AM | link
I am concerned with the negative result of "no evidence of an eating disorder." Other than no diet pills found 15 years ago in pill form or in the drug screen then, no history of that complaint or sx reported, is there anything in addition to "her beautiful teeth" that showed no evidence of vomiting (which not all eating disorders do)?
Excuse me for being outside of my specialty of psychiatry, however. Would a pathologist please let us all know, exactly what would be the postive signs of autopsy to make the diagnosis of eating disorder, 15 years later?
- by Stanley Terman on Jun 17, 2005 at 2:21 PM | link
The above comment by Dr. Terman appears to be a continuation of the comments he started on the June 15th posting "Schiavo Autopsy". ..Maurice.
- by Maurice Bernstein, M.D. on Jun 17, 2005 at 3:59 PM | link
A quick search found a recent paper by Dr. D. Powner That describes 11 such cases in which somatic support was continued in the brain dead mother to allow for delivery of the fetus. Aside from congential abnormalities attributed to phenytoin use in the mother, the efforts were successful as measured by follow-up normal growth and development of the children. Seems like a very appropriate decision to continue somatic support in this case, I am guessing they are not all as cut-and-dried.
- by Mike Harmon on Jun 17, 2005 at 5:46 PM | link
Sorry meant to add that the congential defects related to phenytoin applied to only 1 case the other 10 had no such complication.
- by Mike Harmon on Jun 17, 2005 at 5:47 PM | link