[Palliative care in patients with left ventricular assist devices: systematic review]

An increasing number of patients reach the final stage of heart failure with heart transplantation as the only curative treatment. Mechanical circulatory support, such as left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are becoming increasingly more important at this stage of the disease. An LVAD improves the quality of life and prolongs the lifespan. The LVAD is used as a bridge to transplantation (BTT) for patients waiting for a donor heart or as a destination therapy (DT) with no transplantation intended; nevertheless, implantation is often associated with complications and the prognosis remains unfavorable in DT cases or after transition from BTT to DT. For patients the device may be a source of physical and psychological distress and can become a burden for families and caregivers. So far it remains unclear whether LVAD treatment is an indication for concurrent palliative care.

The aim of this study was to collect the current data on the influence of palliative care in LVAD patients and to identify possible formats of palliative care in clinical practice.

In May 2020, a systematic literature search was performed using the PICOS instrument in six different databases, i.e. PubMed, Cochrane library, Google scholar, Scopus, Web of Science and Journals@Ovid. We included quantitative and qualitative studies in English and German. Case reports, comments and pediatric studies were excluded.

A total of 21 publications from an initial number of 491 were included in this review. The integration of palliative care in the context of LVAD implantation increased the number of advance directives and documented surrogate decision makers. Studies found a positive influence of palliative care on the conditions and place of death, family involvement and symptom and pain management. Involvement in the decision-making process may improve patient selection for LVAD treatment and helps patients to make the decision on informed consent. Various formats for the integration of palliative medical concepts into LVAD treatment are reported. It is not clear when palliative care involvement should start; however, most articles support an early and continuous integration in the LVAD process. We have aggregated possible topics for palliative care consultations from a number of publications. Mutual teaching of both LVAD and palliative care teams is recommended. Integration of a dedicated LVAD palliative care specialist as part of the LVAD team can support care for patients as well as clinicians.

The role of palliative care in LVAD patients in clinical practice in the German-speaking area is not standardized. Early and continuous integration of palliative care into the course of LVAD treatment can improve the quality of care. Benefits for LVAD patients, caregivers and clinicians are described. For this purpose, recommendations as well as professional training for palliative care practitioners are useful. Further studies are needed to clarify the impact of palliative care in both DT and BTT patients.