Abstract

  Predicting mortality can be difficult especially in patients requiring chronic, complex care. In the long-term care environment, researchers have identified both early signs and signs of pending death. On occasion, scales are also used to predict the timeliness of death. Indicators of death in the home environment is often unacknowledged or blurred by palliative care.

Case report: This case study describes the death of a 95-yr old stroke patient who passed away naturally at home. Subtle indicators of his pending death included increased lethargy, decreased skin integrity, a reduction in urine output, edema, and lastly, brief bouts of asthma. It is likely that these signs were related to a progressive decline in heart function culminating in cardiorenal syndrome and heart failure.

Conclusion: As more individuals are opting to live at home for as long as possible, more research is required to make individuals aware of dying and pending death. It is possible, as in this case study, that what is observed and reported in long-term care and in the hospital environment may not be the same as in the home environment.

Keywords: Dying; Death; Home Care; Cardiorenal Syndrome

References

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Citation

Citation: . "A Case Report: Subtle Indicators of Dying and Death in a Stroke Patient".Acta Scientific Clinical Case Reports 1.1 (2020): 11-14.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Ingrid Brenner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.