Palliative Care Use and Patterns of End-of-Life Care in Hospitalized Patients with Calciphylaxis

Calciphylaxis is a rare, debilitating condition characterized by extremely painful ischemic skin lesions and is associated with a one year mortality of 25-80% at the time of diagnosis.1 End stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with calciphylaxis have a worse prognosis than non-ESRD patients with the same condition.1 Additionally, nearly 50% of calciphylaxis patients suffer from limited mobility due to severe pain and more than 70% are hospitalized for severe skin ulcers.1,2 Furthermore, calciphylaxis does not have any approved treatments although agents such as sodium thiosulfate have been reported to ameliorate skin lesions with varying efficacy.

Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - November 3, 2018 Category: Palliative Care Authors: Kabir O. Olaniran, Shananssa G. Percy, Sophia Zhao, Chantal Blais, Vicki Jackson, Mihir M. Kamdar, Jeremy Goverman, Daniela Kroshinsky, Jennifer S. Temel, Sagar U. Nigwekar, Nwamaka D. Eneanya Source Type: research