Background: The incidence of cardiogenic shock (CS) in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is as high as 10%. The majority of patients are thought to develop CS after admission (late CS), but the incidence in a contemporary STEMI cohort admitted for primary percutaneous intervention remains unknown.
Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and time of CS onset in patients with suspected STEMI admitted in two high-volume tertiary heart centres and to assess the variables associated with the development of late CS.
Methods: We included consecutive patients admitted for acute coronary angiography with suspected STEMI in a 1-year period. Cardiogenic shock was based on clinical criteria and subdivided into patients with shock on admission, patients developing shock during catheterisation and patients developing shock later during hospitalisation. Follow-up for all-cause mortality was done using registries.
Results: A total of 2247 patients with suspected STEMI were included, whereof 225 (10%) developed CS. The majority (56%) had CS on admission, 16% developed CS in the catheterisation laboratory and 28% developed late CS. Thirty-day mortality was 3.1% versus 47% in non-CS versus CS patients ( plogrank < 0.0001). Age, stroke, time from symptom onset to intervention, anterior STEMI, heart rate/systolic blood pressure ratio and being comatose after resuscitation from cardiac arrest were independently associated with the development of late CS.
Conclusion: In this study, 10% of patients admitted with suspected STEMI for acute coronary angiography presented with or developed CS. Most were in shock on admission. Irrespective of the timing of shock, mortality was high.
Keywords: Cardiogenic shock; STEMI; mortality; prediction; prognosis.