[Palliative care for patients with heart failure]

Sinais e sintomas de pacientes com insuficiência cardíaca em cuidados paliativos: revisão de escopo

RESUMO Objetivo Mapear a produção de conhecimento acerca dos sinais e sintomas de pacientes com insuficiência cardíaca em cuidados paliativos. Método Revisão de escopo conduzida de acordo com a metodologia JBI e com a redação guiada pelo Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. A busca foi realizada em setembro de 2021 por dois revisores independentes nas bases de dados referenciais e em portais de informação e de literatura cinzenta, utilizando majoritariamente os descritores “heart failure”, “signs and symptoms” e “palliative care”, com o operador booleano “and”, sem recorte temporal. Resultados Foram incluídos 34 artigos publicados entre 2001 e 2021, provenientes de revistas nacionais e internacionais, sendo 21 publicados nos Estados Unidos da América. Por meio desses artigos, foi possível mapear 93 sinais e sintomas, sendo que os mais frequentes foram dor, dispneia, fadiga, náusea e depressão. Conclusão Implicações para a prática esta revisão de escopo produziu um mapa da produção científica sobre os sinais e sintomas de insuficiência cardíaca em cuidados paliativos. O conhecimento dos sinais e sintomas auxilia os profissionais da saúde no desenvolvimento de técnicas e tecnologias para avaliar a severidade da insuficiência cardíaca, planejar intervenções paliativas e avaliar os seus resultados.

[Characteristics of the population hospitalized for advanced and terminal heart failure and experiences in palliative caring in the Intensive Care Unit of cardiology]

PURPOSE

Advanced heart failure incidence is in progression. Palliative care access remains difficult due to its unpredictable course. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients admitted in Cardiology Intensive Care Unit for advanced heart failure who received palliative care and compare them to the whole population of acute heart failure hospitalized in the same period.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The patients hospitalized for acute heart failure were retrospectively included from 2009 to 2013. We identified among them those who received palliative care. Specific caring was decided in pluridisciplinary meeting.

RESULTS

On 940 patients included, 42 patients (4.5%) receive palliative care. Ischemic heart disease was the main etiology (n=19; 45.2%). Right ventricular dysfunction (n=34; 80.9%) was associated with supra-ventricular arrhythmia (n=28; 66.7%). Twenty-eight patients (57.1%) have died in hospital, 9 (21.4%) were referred to a palliative care unit and 8 (19.1%) was discharged or referred to a rehabilitation center. Time between inclusion and death was 6 days on average. Intra-hospital mortality in control group was 6.8%.

CONCLUSION

Palliative care in cardiology is uncommon and has often been too late because of its poor adaptability to advanced heart failure. It is, as consequence, necessary to identify the prognostic factors of these patients in order to propose a personalized care and to adjust the intensity of care ahead of the terminal evolution of heart failure.