title: Palliative Care in Heart Failure.
abstract: Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with limited curative options. Palliative care is a holistic, symptom based approach to patients that has been proven to improve the quality of life for both patients and their caregivers. In this review we will summarize the epidemiology of end stage HF and the data supporting the use of palliative care in this patient population. We will also review basic principles of palliative care as they apply to caring for end stage patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of California, San Diego, CA. Electronic address: rghashgh@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghashghaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of California, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Rayan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yousefzai
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of California, San Diego, CA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adler
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Advanced heart failure; Palliative care; Ventricular assist devices