Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesResearch article
Palliative Care in Heart Failure Guidelines: A Comparison of the 2021 ESC and the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guidelines on Heart Failure
- Review comparing guidelines
Authors' conclusion
Although there is strong agreement on the importance and components of palliative care for patients with HF, there are nuanced differences between the two HF guidelines.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with heart failure (HF)
- Comparison
- 2021 ESC vs 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA HF guidelines on palliative care
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Definitions, concepts and recommendations on palliative care
- Both define palliative care as a multidisciplinary approach to alleviate physical, psychological and spiritual distress of patients and caregivers
- Both stress palliative care across all HF stages, integrated early in the illness trajectory
- Both include symptom management, communication about prognosis and life-sustaining therapies, and advance care planning
- Only AHA/ACC/HFSA gives official recommendations on provision of palliative care
- AHA/ACC/HFSA: needs-based allocation; ESC ties palliative care closely to advanced HF and end-of-life care
- ESC: regular symptom assessment and detailed symptom-management guidance
- AHA/ACC/HFSA: shared decision-making, caregiver and bereavement support, hospice care; primary vs secondary (specialty-level) palliative care
Original publication
Palliative Care in Heart Failure Guidelines: A Comparison of the 2021 ESC and the 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA Guidelines on Heart Failure. Eur J Heart Fail. Published 10 August 2023. doi:10.1002/ejhf.2981
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it