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Cardiogenic shock

What's new

The updated American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) provide recommendations for the management of cardiogenic shock in ACS. Emergency revascularization of the culprit lesion by PCI or CABG is recommended regardless of time from symptom onset, but routine PCI of a non-infarct-related artery should not be performed due to an increased risk of renal failure and death. Short-term mechanical circulatory support devices are suggested for hemodynamic stabilization as a bridge to surgery. Based on the DanGer-SHOCK trial, a microaxial intravascular flow pump is now suggested for selected patients with STEMI and severe or refractory cardiogenic shock. Routine use of intra-aortic balloon pump and venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is not recommended due to a lack of survival benefit. .

Guidelines

Key sources

The following summarized guidelines for the evaluation and management of cardiogenic shock are prepared by our editorial team based on guidelines from the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM 2025), the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI/NAEMSP/AHA/ACC/ACEP 2025), the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM 2025), the European Society of Cardiology (ESC 2023,2021), the Heart Failure Society of ...
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Diagnostic investigations

Critical care ultrasound: as per SCCM 2025 guidelines, consider obtaining critical care ultrasound in adult patients with cardiogenic shock to improve clinical outcomes.
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Diagnostic procedures

Pulmonary artery catheterization: as per ACC/AHA/HFSA 2022 guidelines, consider placing a pulmonary artery line to define hemodynamic subsets and appropriate management strategies in patients presenting with cardiogenic shock.
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Medical management

Setting of care: as per ACC/ACEP/AHA/…/SCAI 2025 guidelines, admit patients with acute coronary syndrome and cardiogenic shock to a cardiac ICU to reduce cardiovascular events.
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More topics in this section

  • Inotropes

  • Vasopressors

  • Fluid resuscitation

  • Fibrinolytic therapy

Therapeutic procedures

Mechanical circulatory support
As per ACC/ACEP/AHA/…/SCAI 2025 guidelines:
Consider inserting a microaxial intravascular flow pump in selected patients with STEMI and severe or refractory cardiogenic shock to reduce mortality.
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Consider using short-term mechanical circulatory support devices in patients with mechanical complications of acute coronary syndrome for hemodynamic stabilization as a bridge to surgery.
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More topics in this section

  • Intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation

  • Coronary artery revascularization