Mary H. Johnson is VAD Educator, The Christ Hospital, 2123 Auburn Avenue, Suite 115, Cincinnati, OH (
Colleen Bass is Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner, The Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio.
AACN Adv Crit Care. 2021 Dec 15;32(4):452-460. doi: 10.4037/aacnacc2021501.
Health care providers face a unique set of decision-making, assessment, and equipment challenges at the end of life of patients supported with a left ventricular assist device. The aim for this article is to assist the multidisciplinary team in caring for patients with a left ventricular assist device in all phases of end-of-life care. This review includes common causes of death for patients with a left ventricular assist device, assessment at end of life, physiological and palliative care considerations, withdrawal of left ventricular assist device support, and equipment considerations.
医疗保健提供者在为接受左心室辅助设备支持的患者提供生命末期的护理时,面临着一系列独特的决策、评估和设备挑战。本文的目的是帮助多学科团队在生命末期护理的所有阶段照顾接受左心室辅助设备的患者。这篇综述包括左心室辅助设备患者死亡的常见原因、生命末期的评估、生理和姑息治疗的考虑因素、左心室辅助设备支持的撤回以及设备方面的考虑。