Case Report: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) deactivation in palliative care - a case involving best interest decisions for someone lacking capacity at the end of life



Tan, Chevonne, Hanchanale, Sarika, Sugrue, Emma and Nwosu, Amara Callistus ORCID: 0000-0003-0014-3741
(2021) Case Report: Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) deactivation in palliative care - a case involving best interest decisions for someone lacking capacity at the end of life. AMRC Open Research, 3. p. 4.

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Abstract

The use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) has increased due to benefits of preventing death from cardiac arrhythmia. However, the increasing use of ICDs has created new challenges for how to proactively manage deactivation of these devices in people who are dying, especially for those who lack capacity to make decisions about their care. The aim of this case report is to discuss the challenges of planning for deactivation of an ICD for a patient who lacked capacity at the end of life. We describe the challenges of managing ICD deactivation in a dying patient with fluctuating capacity who had previously expressed a wish for the ICD to remain active. Although it is preferable to use advance care planning (ACP), to provide care in-line with patient-identified care preferences, we demonstrate how a best interest process can be used to make decisions about ICD deactivation at the end of life.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cardiovascular, Clinical Research, Behavioral and Social Science, Health Services, Heart Disease, 7.3 Management and decision making, 7 Management of diseases and conditions, 7.2 End of life care, Cardiovascular
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 08 Jul 2021 09:15
Last Modified: 17 Mar 2024 11:07
DOI: 10.12688/amrcopenres.12972.1
Open Access URL: http://doi.org/10.12688/amrcopenres.12972.1
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3129261