ObjectiveTo evaluate the knowledge and acceptance of the public and professionals working in intensive care units regarding organ donation after cardiac death.MethodsThe three hospitals with the most brain death notifications in Curitiba were selected, and two groups of respondents were established for application of the same questionnaire: the general public (i.e., visitors of patients in intensive care units) and health professionals working in the same intensive care unit. The questionnaire contained questions concerning demographics, intention to donate organs and knowledge of current legislation regarding brain death and donation after cardiac death.ResultsIn total, 543 questionnaires were collected, including 442 from family members and 101 from health professionals. There was a predominance of women and Catholics in both groups. More females intended to donate. Health professionals performed better in the knowledge comparison. The intention to donate organs was significantly higher in the health professionals group (p = 0.01). There was no significant difference in the intention to donate in terms of education level or income. There was a greater acceptance of donation after uncontrolled cardiac death among Catholics than among evangelicals (p < 0.001).ConclusionMost of the general population intended to donate, with greater intentions expressed by females. Education and income did not affect the decision. The type of transplant that used a donation after uncontrolled cardiac death was not well accepted in the study population, indicating the need for more clarification for its use in our setting.

Pineal cavernous angioma is a vascular malformation that has a prevalence lower than 1%. The etiology is debated. It is believed that it is originated from an autosomal dominant inheritance or from radiotherapeutic treatment. Complete resection enables the cure and prevents complications of the natural evolution of the lesion, mainly hemorrhagic events. A female patient, with 67 years of age, presented mental confusion and visual acuity deficit, which evolved to periods of psychomotor agitation. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the head showed a lobulated mass lesion in the pineal region with hypersignal on T1 and hyposignal on the susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) sequence. Hydrocephalus was also noticed. The patient underwent a microsurgery for complete lesion resection though a supracerebellar/supratentorial access. The anatomopathology revealed an arteriovenous malformation compatible with cavernous angioma. The pineal cavernous angioma is a rare malformation that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of expansive lesions of the pineal gland.