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Published in: BMC Palliative Care 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Care | Case report

An Australian Neuro-Palliative perspective on Huntington's disease: a case report

Authors: Rajvi Shah, Sarah CM Lee, Rupert B Strasser, Christopher Grossman

Published in: BMC Palliative Care | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is an incurable, progressive neuro-degenerative disease. For patients with HD access to palliative care services is limited, with dedicated Neuro-Palliative Care Services rare in Australia. We discuss the experiences of and benefits to a patient with late-stage HD admitted to our Neuro-Palliative Care service.

Case presentation

We present the case of a patient with a 16-year history of HD from time of initial genetic testing to admission to our Neuro-Palliative Care service with late-stage disease.

Conclusions

Given the prolonged, fluctuating and heterogenous HD trajectory, measures need to be implemented to improve earlier access to multi-specialty integrative palliative care services. Given the good outcomes of our case, we strongly advocate for the role of specialised Neuro-Palliative Care services to bridge the gap between clinical need and accessibility.
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Metadata
Title
An Australian Neuro-Palliative perspective on Huntington's disease: a case report
Authors
Rajvi Shah
Sarah CM Lee
Rupert B Strasser
Christopher Grossman
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Palliative Care / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1472-684X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-021-00744-z

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