title: Current issues in implementing do-not-resuscitate orders for cardiac patients.
abstract: Cardiovascular diseases are still the most common cause of death, and heart failure is the most common reason for hospitalization of patients older than 65 years. However, Cardiology attributes low importance to end-of-life care. Cardiac patients' perception of their disease's prognosis and the results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation differ greatly from reality. The "do not resuscitate" order allows patients to pre-emptively express their rejection for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, thereby avoiding its potentially negative consequences. However, these orders are still underused and misinterpreted in cardiac patients. Most of these patients usually have no opportunity to have the necessary conversations with their attending physician on their resuscitation preferences. In this review, we performed an analysis of the causes that could explain this situation.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario de Torrejón, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, España; Facultad de Ciencias Biosanitarias, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, España. Electronic address: j.ruizgarcia@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruiz-García
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Oftalmología, Hospital Universitario de Torrejón, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Canal-Fontcuberta
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, España; Universidad Europea, Madrid, España; Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, España.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martínez-Sellés
keywords: Cardiology; Cardiología; Cardiopulmonary arrest; Cardiopulmonary resuscitation; Clinical ethics; Cuidados al final de la vida; End-of-life care; Parada cardiorrespiratoria; Reanimación cardiopulmonar; Ética clínica