Survey of Palliative Sedation at End of Life in Terminally Ill Heart Failure Patients　- A Single-Center Experience of 5-Year Follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about palliative sedation in terminally ill heart failure (HF) patients.Methods and Results:We retrospectively reviewed terminally ill HF patients who received palliative sedation from September 2013 to August 2018. Among 95 terminally ill HF patients, 25 were prescribed dexmedetomidine and 12 were prescribed midazolam at the end of life. Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale was significantly reduced (P<0.01), but blood pressure and heart rate were unaltered after treatment in both the dexmedetomidine and midazolam groups. CONCLUSIONS: Prescription of dexmedetomidine and/or midazolam might be feasible in selected terminally ill HF patients.