Essentials Book 8: COPD, Heart Failure, Renal Disease, and Liver Disease 

Addressing symptom burden and decision‑making in advanced organ disease 

The fully updated and expanded edition of COPD, Heart Failure, Renal Disease, and Liver Disease delivers practical, evidence‑based guidance for caring for patients with advanced non‑malignant organ disease, where palliative care is often underutilized despite high symptom burden and complex decision‑making needs.  

This book emphasizes early, proactive integration of palliative care, with clear pathways that support prognosis‑informed conversations, goal‑concordant treatment decisions, and high‑quality symptom management across pulmonary, cardiac, renal, and hepatic disease trajectories. 

New in This Edition 

• Updated COPD content reflecting GOLD 2024 guidelines, including the revised ABE assessment tool and expanded use of pulmonary and tele‑rehabilitation 
• Heart failure updates aligned with ACC/AHA/HFSA 2022 guidance, including contemporary pharmacotherapy, device management, and advanced therapy decision‑making 
• Revised renal disease content incorporating KDIGO 2024 updates, with expanded guidance on conservative management, dialysis initiation and withdrawal, and prognostication tools 
• Comprehensive liver disease chapter, addressing decompensated cirrhosis, MELD 3.0, symptom management, psychosocial complexity, and transplant considerations 
• Expanded focus on caregiver support, health equity, and person‑centered language integrated across all organ‑specific sections 

How This Book Strengthens Your Clinical Practice 

• Identify patients with chronic organ failure who may benefit from palliative care earlier in the disease trajectory  
• Make patient‑centered, values‑aligned decisions about devices, dialysis, transplantation, and withdrawal of life‑sustaining therapies  
• Address caregiver burden, psychosocial distress, and inequities in serious illness care with clarity and intention 
• Implement practical symptom management strategies for dyspnea, pain, fatigue, pruritus, volume overload, and neurocognitive symptoms 
• Communicate prognosis more effectively, using validated tools tailored to nonmalignant disease trajectories  

Authored and Edited by Leaders in the Field 
Written and reviewed by nationally recognized hospice and palliative medicine clinicians and interdisciplinary experts in advanced organ disease. Their combined expertise ensures evidence‑based, clinically grounded guidance that supports early palliative integration, high‑quality symptom management, and decision‑making across chronic organ failure. 

Part of the AAHPM Essential Practices in Hospice and Palliative Medicine Series 
A trusted, evidence-based resource for hospice and palliative clinicians. 

Explore the full 9-book series: Essential Practices in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (Full Book Set)