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Causes and place of death in Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Causes and place of death in Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Authors :
Spataro, R.
Lo Re, M.
Piccoli, T.
Piccoli, F.
La Bella, V.
Source :
Acta Neurologica Scandinavica; Sep2010, Vol. 122 Issue 3, p217-223, 7p, 3 Charts, 2 Graphs
Publication Year :
2010

Abstract

Spataro R, Lo Re M, Piccoli T, Piccoli F, La BellaV. Causes and place of death in Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Acta Neurol Scand: 122: 217–223. © 2010 The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Munksgaard. Objectives – To determine the causes and place of death in a cohort of Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A better understanding of the likely causes of death in ALS might improve the palliative care at the end-of-life, whereas knowing the place of death will help to verify the need for highly specialized care services, e.g. hospice and nursing home. Patients and methods – Between 2000 and 2008, 182 ALS patients (onset: spinal, 127; bulbar, 55; M/F: 1.6) were followed in a single ALS Tertiary Centre in Palermo, Sicily, Italy until death. Medical data for each individual patient were recorded in a large database throughout the disease course. Information concerning causes and place of death were obtained by consultation with relatives or the family physician. Results – Respiratory failure (terminal respiratory insufficiency, pneumonia) was the most frequent cause of death (81.3%), which included six cases (3.3%) who requested a terminal sedation. Sudden death and death during sleep accounted for by 6.0% and 6.6% of all deaths, respectively. Heart-related causes of death were relatively infrequent in our cohort, accounting for by 7.1% of all deaths (i.e. sudden death: 6.0% and myocardial infarct: 1.1%). Patients (85.2%) died at home. Conclusions – The leading cause of death in ALS remains the respiratory failure, followed by the sudden death and death during sleep. Most patients in our cohort died at home, a choice that might be only partially driven by cultural factors. These findings might have a great impact on the development of the advanced and end-of-life palliative care and in the planning of specialized care services, as hospice and nursing home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00016314
Volume :
122
Issue :
3
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Acta Neurologica Scandinavica
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
52670053
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.2009.01290.x