Palliative care?! But this child's not dying: The burgeoning partnership between pediatric cardiology and palliative care
cardiology; pediatric cardiology; pediatric palliative care
The field of pediatric cardiology has witnessed major changes over the past few decades that have considerably altered patient outcomes, including decreasing mortality rates for many previously untreatable conditions. Despite this, some pediatric cardiology programs are increasingly choosing to partner with their institutional palliative care teams. Why is this? The field of palliative care has also experienced significant shifts over a similar period of time. Today's palliative care is focused on improving quality of life, for any patient with a serious or life-threatening condition, regardless of where they might be on their disease trajectory. Research has clearly demonstrated that improved outcomes can be achieved for a variety of patient cohorts through early integration of palliative care; recent evidence suggests that the same may be true in pediatric cardiology. All pediatric cardiologists need to be aware of what pediatric palliative care has to offer their patients, especially those who are not actively dying. This manuscript reviews the evolution of palliative care and provides a rationale for its integration into the care of children with advanced heart disease. Readers will gain a sense of how and when to introduce palliative care to their families, as well as insight into what pediatric palliative care teams have to offer. Additional research is required to better delineate optimal partnership between palliative care and pediatric cardiology so that we may promote maximal quality of life of patients concurrently with continued efforts to push the boundaries of quantity of life. Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Wan A; Weingarten K; Rapoport A
The Canadian journal of cardiology
2020
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2020.04.041" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.cjca.2020.04.041</a>
Nonheart failure-associated elevation of amino terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in the setting of sepsis
Female; Humans; Male; Aged; Fatal Outcome; Heart Failure; 80 and over; Biological Markers/blood; Brain/blood; Congestive/blood/drug therapy; Natriuretic Peptide; Peptide Fragments/blood; Protein Precursors/blood; Sepsis/blood/drug therapy; Telemeres
In addition to its importance in clinical assessment, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) is a valuable marker for evaluation of treatment and prognosis of heart failure. However, there are situations where NT pro-BNP is not related to myocardial dysfunction. Two cases of sepsis with markedly elevated NT pro-BNP levels that are not indicative of depressed myocardial function are described.
2006
Bar SL; Swiggum E; Straatman L; Ignaszewski A
The Canadian Journal Of Cardiology
2006
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/s0828-282x(06)70908-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1016/s0828-282x(06)70908-4</a>