End-stage heart disease in the elderly

This document was produced by the Spanish Society of Cardiology Section on Geriatric Cardiology "End-stage heart disease in the elderly" working group. Its aim was to provide an expert overview that would increase understanding of the last days of life of elderly patients with heart disease and improve treatment and clinical decision-making. As elderly heart disease patients form a heterogeneous group, thorough clinical evaluation is essential, in particular to identify factors that could influence prognosis (e.g., heart disease, comorbid conditions, functional status and frailty). The evaluation should be carried out before any clinical decisions are made, especially those that could restrict therapy, such as do-not-resuscitate orders or instructions to deactivate an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. Elderly patients with terminal heart disease have the right to expect a certain level of care and consideration: they should not suffer unnecessarily, their freely expressed wishes should be respected, they should be fully informed about their medical condition, they should be able to express an opinion about possible interventions, and they should be entitled to receive psychospiritual care. After an incurable disease has been diagnosed, the aim of palliative care should be to control symptoms. It should not be used only when the patient is close to death. Although palliative care is relatively undeveloped in heart disease, its use must be borne in mind in elderly patients with advanced heart failure. The main aims are to make the patient as comfortable as possible in all senses and to optimize quality of life in the patient's final days, while avoiding the use of aggressive treatments that consume health-care resources without providing any benefits.