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Biomedical subjects

T E Finucane

Publications and source records attributed to T E Finucane.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Ethical decision-making near the end of life.

For ethical decision-making near the end of life, autonomy is the moral North Star. At the same time, for some treatments, the burdens so clearly outweigh benefits that physicians may make a judgment not to offer the treatment. This is often clearer in surgery. A person with colon cancer and metastases may not insist on resection of the metastases. For some reason, some treatments have escaped these logical constraints. Attempted resuscitation of a dying patient is a good example. The circumstances in which a physician may make choices on behalf of a competent, terminally-ill patient without consent, and even without notification, are hotly debated, but data suggest that physicians do so frequently. Patients who lack capacity present even more difficult challenges. Advance directives, when available, can be extremely helpful, but even with them difficult problems can remain. If advance directives have not been established, family and close friends are an obvious source of guidance. Their legal role varies in different jurisdictions; in practice, they are crucial in bedside decision-making. Guardianship and alternatives to it remain a poor last resort. Euthanasia is a very difficult problem. We believe it is semantically misleading to lump under the term "passive euthanasia" those circumstances where potentially life-sustaining treatment is withheld or withdrawn. The tension between patient autonomy and medical common sense remains unresolved within the "futility" controversy. The authors believe it serves no purpose to discuss carefully with dying patients propositions that are nonsense. At the same time, physicians must not confuse decisions about quality of life with judgements about treatment effectiveness. We believe that what many, although not all, dying patients want are physicians with intelligent compassion who can take care of them through the dying process.

Advance Directives↗
PubMed1995

Malnutrition, tube feeding and pressure sores: data are incomplete.

PURPOSE: To review data about the relationship between pressure sores and (1) nutritional status, (2) nutrient intake, and (3) tube feeding. DATA SOURCES: Medline search of terms associated with "decubitus ulcer" combined with terms associated with "pressure sore" from 1985 through August 1994. Hand review of all issues of the journal Decubitus (now Advances in Wound Care) through June 1994 and the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition from January 1987 through May-June 1994. Review of bibliography of pertinent articles. A small survey of experts. STUDY SELECTION: Articles where the title, Me SH terms, or abstract suggested an examination of the relationship between nutrition and pressure sores, and those suggested by the experts, were reviewed. DATA EXTRACTION: Study designs were disparate. Results were simply tabulated. RESULTS: In seven studies, low serum albumin was associated with development or presence of pressure sores; in five it was not. Most measures of nutritional status were not associated with pressure sore outcomes. Poor nutritional intake was associated with poor pressure sore outcome in four of seven studies. Tube feeding was positively associated with presence of pressure sores in one study. Special nutrition support was ineffective in improving pressure sore outcome in a second. Two studies showed better healing in patients receiving high-protein formula: in one, all patients were tube fed; in the other, route of feeding was not stated. CONCLUSION: Data about the relationship between malnutrition and pressure sores are incomplete and contradictory. No randomized trials of tube feeding as prevention or treatment of pressure sores has been done. Routine use of tube feeding to prevent or treat pressure sores is not clearly supported by data.

Enteral Nutrition↗
PubMed1995

Predictors of nursing home placement in community-based long-term care.

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors for nursing home placement among a group of frail older patients receiving formal home care services. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: A geographically defined catchment area of southeast Baltimore, Maryland. PATIENTS: A total of 334 homebound patients who started using the Elder Housecall Program (EHP), a multidisciplinary team providing in-home care and housed at the Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Center, between 1986 and 1989. MEASUREMENTS: Independent variables, based on the chart review, were age, sex, diagnosis, functional status, and caregiver conditions at entry into EHP. Dependent variable was nursing home placement until December 31, 1991. MAIN RESULTS: Cox proportional hazards analysis indicated that significant predictors were diabetes mellitus, bowel incontinence, and three caregiver characteristics: living separate from the patient, having time conflicts because of a job, and being stressed by caregiving. CONCLUSION: Among this group of frail older people, caregiver problems were significant predictors of nursing home placement, but functional disabilities generally were not. These results suggest the need for geriatricians to be alert to the psychosocial aspects of patients and their caregivers.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

The medical director in non-institutional long-term care programs.

Non-institutional long-term care is a broad, poorly defined, rapidly developing field. The need for it, the technologic ability to provide it, and the amount of money spent on it are all growing. Reconciling the public's reluctance to support social programs with the inevitable overlap of social and medical needs in the care of the frail elderly presents a serious challenge in formulating policy. Medical directors of programs in non-institutional long-term care will have to face governmental constraints and will be responsible for developing and implementing new policy in the future.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Permanent cardiac pacemakers in the elderly.

OBJECTIVE: To review (1) Changes in cardiac impulse generation, conduction, and ventricular filling in normal aging and disease; (2) Pacemaker technology and nomenclature; (3) Expert guidelines about pacemaker use; (4) Studies of pacemaker effectiveness and utilization. DESIGN: Articles were identified through a Medline search, review of articles' bibliographies, and contact with pacemaker manufacturer representatives for information on device features and costs. These articles were reviewed, and the relevant data are presented. RESULTS: Abnormalities in impulse generation and conduction are common in the elderly. Pacemaker use is higher in the elderly than in other population groups. Hemodynamic changes associated with aging include an increased contribution of atrial contraction to ventricular filling. Pacemakers, which maintain the synchrony between the atria and ventricles, may be particularly advantageous in the elderly for this reason. Rate-responsive ventricular pacemakers improve the quality of life compared with fixed rate devices in some patients over the age of 75. Dual-chamber, sequential pacemakers are more likely to reduce symptoms of pacemaker syndrome than ventricular pacemakers and probably also prolong survival and reduce risk of atrial fibrillation in certain groups of patients. However, dual chamber devices are more expensive and require more frequent follow-up. Pacemaker utilization can vary widely by region. Decisions about pacemakers require explicit tradeoffs between risk and quality of life on one hand and cost on the other. In many clinical situations, there is controversy as to whether pacemakers should be used. CONCLUSIONS: Pacemakers provide definite benefits to some patients, whereas in others, the likelihood of benefit is uncertain. More sophisticated devices may provide some additional benefit, but they are more costly. Further data is still required to define precisely which groups of patients substantially benefit from complex and expensive pacing modalities compared with simpler ones.

Age Factors↗