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Ethical Aspects of Withdrawing Cardiac Device Therapy at End of Life

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Psychological, Emotional, Social and Cognitive Aspects of Implantable Cardiac Devices

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Abstract

Cardiac device therapies are associated with improved survival in patients at risk for sudden cardiac death due to ventricular arrhythmias. The number of implants for both primary and secondary prevention continues to rise both in the United States and European countries. As the population ages and technology advances, patients with implantable devices continue to live longer. When terminal illness becomes apparent, patient’s goals may change to comfort care and painful shocks from ICDs become unwanted and inappropriate. This chapter discusses the challenges that patients and medical caregivers face as these patients deal with terminal illnesses. It also discusses the latest information available in the medical literature related to ethics and patient’s and physician’s attitudes. Ethics will aid the clinician’s management of the goals of care related to potentially complex end-of-life issues. With some pre-planning a potentially stressful situation can become more manageable for all those involved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, MetroHealth Campus of Case Western Reserve University, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH, 44109, USA

    Vilma Torres M.D. & William R. Lewis M.D.

Authors
  1. Vilma Torres M.D.
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  2. William R. Lewis M.D.
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Correspondence to Vilma Torres M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiac Center, Morriston Hospital, University of Swansea, Swansea, United Kingdom

    Riccardo Proietti

  2. eCampus University Faculty of Psychology, Novedrate (Como), Italy

    Gian Mauro Manzoni

  3. Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy

    Giada Pietrabissa

  4. Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy

    Gianluca Castelnuovo

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Torres, V., Lewis, W.R. (2017). Ethical Aspects of Withdrawing Cardiac Device Therapy at End of Life. In: Proietti, R., Manzoni, G., Pietrabissa, G., Castelnuovo, G. (eds) Psychological, Emotional, Social and Cognitive Aspects of Implantable Cardiac Devices. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55721-2_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55721-2_15

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55721-2

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