Ethical Issues in Heart Failure: Overview of an Emerging Need

Modern therapies in cardiovascular medicine aim at preventing death and improving patients' quality of life. However, cardiologists often focus on what can be done rather than what should be done, and the latter consideration may be neglected in the midst of therapeutic optimism. The life-savin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Perspectives in biology and medicine 2006, Vol.49 (1), p.1-9
Main Authors: Kirkpatrick, James N, Kim, Antony Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cardiology
Cardiology - ethics
Care and treatment
Chronic Disease
Death & dying
Disease Progression
Ethics, Medical
Heart disease
Heart failure
Heart Failure - therapy
Hospice care
Humans
Medical ethics
Palliative Care - ethics
Preventable deaths
Quality of Life
Terminal care
Terminal Care - ethics
United States
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Summary:Modern therapies in cardiovascular medicine aim at preventing death and improving patients' quality of life. However, cardiologists often focus on what can be done rather than what should be done, and the latter consideration may be neglected in the midst of therapeutic optimism. The life-saving success of cardiovascular treatments, combined with an aging population, has created an epidemic of heart failure, a disease that portends considerable morbidity and mortality and raises important questions about what should be done. This and the following essays in this section address the emerging need for ethical analysis of issues raised by patients with heart failure. In this overview, we discuss end-of-life care in end-stage heart failure, new therapies for heart failure, and heart failure research.
ISSN:0031-5982
1529-8795
1529-8795
DOI:10.1353/pbm.2006.0009