Left ventricular assist devices as destination therapy (DT) improve quality of life for many patients with advanced heart failure. However, DT can be associated with risks such as infection, bleeding, and stroke, and may ...

To assess the benefit of proactive palliative medicine consultation for delineation of goals of care and quality-of-life preferences before implantation of left ventricular assist devices as destination therapy (DT).

Patients who undergo implantation of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) often have improved quality of life, but may eventually succumb to their heart failure and/or sustain LVAD-related complications. In end-of-life ...

We take the example of cardiac devices, specifically the implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, to explore the complex cultural role of technology in medicine today. We focus on persons age 80 and above, for whom ...