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Letter
Palliative care in cystic fibrosis
  1. Timothée Blin1,
  2. Thomas Flament1,
  3. Julie Mankikian1,
  4. Sophie Vibet2 and
  5. François Chaumier2,3
  1. 1 Centre de Ressources et de Compétences de la Mucoviscidose Adultes, Service de Pneumologie, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France
  2. 2 Equipe Mobile de Soins Palliatifs 37, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France
  3. 3 UMR INSERM U1246 SPHERE, Université de Tours, Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France
  1. Correspondence to Dr François Chaumier, Equipe Mobile de Soins Palliatifs 37, CHRU de Tours, 37000 Tours, France; francois.chaumier{at}univ-tours.fr

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-002068

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    Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare congenital disease responsible for respiratory infections, pneumothorax and chronic respiratory failure. Median life expectancy is increasing and recently reached 50 years. Since it is incurable (except with a lung transplant), patients with CF may benefit from early palliative care team (PCT) involvement, which should partner with CF physicians. We report a case of CF enrolled by a PCT and discuss the benefits of collaboration between PCT and CF teams.

    A single 35-year-old man was followed up every 3 months in consultation by a cystic fibrosis reference centre. Respiratory failure was severe (forced expiratory volume in one second=20%). In 2017, he refused lung transplant because he found no meaning in extending life. He even expressed a wish to hasten death and had inquired about euthanasia or assisted suicide in Belgium. He explained that he never thought he could live so long. As a child, his paediatric CF physician told him his illness would be rapidly life-threatening. Consequently, he never invested in his personal or professional …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors TB, SV and FC wrote the article. TF, JM and FC were involved in the patient’s course.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.