Perspectives on Withdrawing Pacemakers and Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators at End of Life Vary Substantially

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers found that the majority of medical professionals and patients feel implantable cardiac device (ICD) therapy should be withdrawn based on the patient's right to refuse continued life-sustaining therapy at the end of life.

"Almost one-third of medical professionals surveyed considered withdrawal of a pacemaker in a pacemaker-dependent patient as physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, but only a very small percentage believed the same about an ICD," says Samuel Asirvatham, M.D., lead author and cardiologist, Mayo Clinic. The article noted that legal professionals tend to view all devices as similar and saw little difference between withdrawal of an ICD and withdrawal of a pacemaker.

"Education and discussion of managing devices at the end of life are important when making end-of-life decisions to better understand patients' perceptions and expectations," says Dr. Asirvatham.

A peer-reviewed journal, Mayo Clinic Proceedings publishes original articles and reviews dealing with clinical and laboratory medicine, clinical research, basic science research and clinical epidemiology. Mayo Clinic Proceedings is published monthly by Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research as part of its commitment to the medical education of physicians. The journal has been published for more than 80 years and has a circulation of 130,000 nationally and internationally. Articles are available online.

###

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit MayoClinic.com or MayoClinic.org/news.

Journalists can become a member of the Mayo Clinic News Network for the latest health, science and research news and access to video, audio, text and graphic elements that can be downloaded or embedded.