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.

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