• Shunichi Nakagawa, Arthur R Garan, Koji Takeda, Hiroo Takayama, Veli K Topkara, Melana Yuzefpolskaya, Lauren Yuill, Susan X Lin, Paolo C Colombo, Yoshifumi Naka, and Craig D Blinderman.
• 1 Adult Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York.
• J Palliat Med. 2019 Apr 1; 22 (4): 432-436.

BackgroundLittle is known about palliative care consultation (PCC) for patients with cardiogenic shock requiring short-term mechanical circulatory support (STMCS).ObjectiveTo describe the utilization of PCC in this population.DesignRetrospective cohort study in a university medical center intensive care unit (ICU).Setting/ParticipantsIn total, 195 patients aged >18 years with cardiogenic shock requiring STMCS were included. The cohort was divided into three categories: no PCC, early PCC (within seven days of STMCS), and late PCC (eight or more days after STMCS). Follow-up occurred during the index hospitalization.ResultsMean age was 59.3 ± 13.9 years; 67.9% were men. Mean follow-up period was 33.8 ± 37.7 days. Overall inpatient mortality was 52.3%. Ninety-four patients (48.2%) received PCC; 49 (25.1%) and 45 (23.1%) received early and late PCCs, respectively. STMCS duration, ICU stay after STMCS, and hospital stay after STMCS were significantly shorter in the no PCC group than the early PCC group (4 vs. 12 days, p < 0.001; 11 vs. 19 days, p = 0.004; and 16 vs. 19 days, p = 0.031; respectively). ICU stay after STMCS and hospital stay after STMCS were significantly shorter in the early PCC group than the late PCC group (19 vs. 38 days, p < 0.001; 19 vs. 49 days, p < 0.001; respectively). However, time from initial PCC to discharge was not significantly different between early and late PCC groups (18 vs. 31 days, p = 0.13).ConclusionsPCC was utilized in almost half of patients with cardiogenic shock requiring STMCS. PCC tends to occur toward the end of life regardless of the duration of STMCS. The optimal PCC timing remained unclear.

24 keywords...

hide…