Critical Care Commons^™

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: A Case Of The Broken Heart, Lilian Huynh, Kaylee Putney

Annual Research Symposium

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TC), or "broken heart syndrome," is a rare cardiac condition causing temporary left ventricular dysfunction due to severe stress. Though the exact cause is unclear, it mimics myocardial infarction and can lead to cardiogenic shock. Current treatment lacks specific guidelines and relies on heart failure protocols. We report a case of a patient with TC-induced cardiogenic shock, likely triggered by emotional stress. She required vasopressors, a percutaneous intervention, an Impella device, and guideline-directed medication therapies. This case underscores the significance of establishing guideline optimizations for managing TC and cardiogenic shock.

Deciphering Dyspnea: Exercise-Related Flail Mitral Valve Masquerading As Pneumonia, Mehtab Galeh, Amjad Nader, Rania Esteitie

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

A 62-year-old male presented with a sudden onset of dyspnea following a racquetball session. Vital signs revealed a blood pressure of 136/63 mm Hg, heart rate of 116 beats/min, respiratory rate of 26 breaths/min, temperature of 98.7º F, and oxygen saturation of 85% on room air. The physical examination was notable for tachycardia, no audible murmur, and bilateral coarse breath sounds on lung auscultation. Pertinent laboratory data showed leukocytosis, elevated lactic acidosis, and elevated brain natriuretic peptide. Arterial blood gas analysis on room air revealed a pH of 7.39, partial pressure of carbon dioxide of 32 mm Hg, and arterial …

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection With Cardiogenic Shock In The United States, Chayakrit Krittanawong, Dhrubajyoti Bandyopadhyay, Neelkumar Patel, Yusuf Kamran Qadeer, Neil Sagar Maitra, Zhen Wang, Mahboob Alam, Samin Sharma, Hani Jneid

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is defined as a non-traumatic separation of the epicardial coronary artery walls that creates a false lumen. SCAD poses a difficult challenge in management, as decisions regarding revascularization and medical management seem to be tailored to the individual patient. We evaluated and compared outcomes based on cardiogenic shock in patients with SCAD utilizing Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) between January 1, 2016, to December 30, 2020.

METHODS: We utilized the NRD 2016-2019 to carry out this study. We evaluated demographics (e.g., age, gender), conventional risk factors, comorbidities present on the index admission, and in-hospital outcomes …

Should Targeted Temperature Management Be Used In Cardiogenic Shock Patients? Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Adam Nieborek, Jerzy R Ladny, Milosz J Jaguszewski, Andrea Denegri, Aleksandra Sikora, Szymon Pucylo, Aleksandra Gasecka, Michal Pruc, Ivan Savytsky, Lukasz Szarpak

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic hypothermia, or targeted temperature management (TTM), is a strategy of reducing the core body temperature of survivors of sudden cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock (CS) or stroke. Therefore, a systematic literature review and meta-analysis were performed to tackle the question about whether the implementation of TTM is actually beneficial for patients with CS.

METHODS: Study was designed as a systematic review and meta-analysis. PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Scopus were searched from these databases inception to July 17, 2022. Eligible studies were those comparing TTM and non-TTM treatment in CS patients. Data were pooled with the Mantel-Haenszel …

The Brink Of The Abyss: From Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation, To Impella, To Left Ventricular Assist Device Destination Therapy, Jake Kieserman, Megan Sheehan, Marisa Cevasco, Brian Mccauley, Ryan Prentice, Jay Giri, Joyce Wald

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Acute valvular emergencies are common causes of cardiogenic shock. Patients with critical aortic pathologies causing shock frequently undergo percutaneous interventions for valve replacement. However, in cases of persistent cardiogenic shock after valve replacement, there are limited options for further mechanical support. In this case study, we report a patient with a prior history of aortic valve replacement who presented in cardiogenic shock. After a transcatheter aortic valve-in-valve replacement, he remained in persistent shock with worsening clinical parameters requiring escalating inotropic and vasopressor support. With input from a multidisciplinary care team, an Impella 5.5 (Abiomed, Inc.) was placed through the valve …

Management Of Patients With Refractory Cardiogenic Shock And Cardiointestinal Syndrome With Impella 5.5 As Bridge To Decision: Case Series, Ismael A. Salas De Armas, Bindu Akkanti, Amanda Bergeron, Anju Bhardwaj, Kha Dinh, Ali Shirafkan, Jayeshkumar A. Patel, Manish K. Patel, Carlos R. Manrique Neira, Igor D. Gregoric, Biswajit Kar, Mehmet H. Akay

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Patients with advanced heart failure require multi-system management as a majority succumb to end-organ dysfunction, including gastrointestinal sequelae. Temporizing measures, such as early mechanical circulatory support, can assist in the recovery of patients with acute cardiogenic shock. The temporary support can improve patient characteristics to enable future definitive heart failure therapies such as durable left ventricular assist devices and orthotopic heart transplantation. We present two cases of cardiogenic shock that were successfully bridged with an Impella 5.5 (Abiomed). The management enabled the patients to recover from reversible cardiointestinal syndrome and undergo successful definitive therapies.

The Challenges Of Conducting Clinical Trials For Patients With Cardiogenic Shock, Sunil Rao

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Cardiogenic shock due to ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Patients in shock are acutely ill, and clinicians may lack equipoise, thus presenting a challenge to developing high-quality evidence to guide practice. This review will summarize these challenges and offer possible solutions.

Why Is Epinephrine Not The Drug Of Choice In Cardiogenic Shock?, Esther Vorovich

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Through the years, epinephrine has been the drug of choice for patients with cardiogenic shock. However, epinephrine was clinically inferior to norepinephrine in comparison studies because of the negative patient outcomes, which were statistically significant. These effects include type B lactic acidosis, tachycardia, increased myocardial oxygen demand, and arrhythmias.

Reperfusion Injury In Acute Myocardial Infarction Shock- Role Of Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices, Finn Gustafsson

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

The efficacy of mechanical circulatory support in acute myocardial infarction is dependent upon the size of the infarct. If applied early, mechanical support to reduce reperfusion injury appears to be effective in reducing infarct size in animal studies. The optimal timing of reperfusion is uncertain and requires further investigation. Efficient unloading appears to be essential in increasing the efficacy of the type of mechanical support and may favor one over another.

Racial Variations In Shock Presentation And Outcome, Steven Bailey

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Working toward inclusive strategies for data sampling, trials, and triage is essential. Whatever the approach, it is important to do better than what has been done in the past when considering race and ethnicity in patient care. Although there may be limited publications with information on this topic, they have shown clear differences in patient outcomes with possible associations with gender, race, and ethnicity. It is critical to view the implications of this on socioeconomic status, access, resources, patient phenotypes, and patient desires and expectations. The disparities must first be recognized before any treatment options can be identified.

Hemodynamic Goals In Shock Management: Is There One Target For All?, Maya Guglin

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

The current guidelines for managing cardiogenic shock lack specificity and clarification. The main criterion for cardiogenic shock is low cardiac output, and the most important goal is to achieve adequate output from a shock state. Because of the complex nature of cardiogenic shock, a “one-size-fits-all" outline may not be the best solution. Historically, hemodynamic goals in cardiogenic shock are copied from septic shock. Because septic shock and cardiogenic shock are different hemodynamic entities, the goals should be different.

Hemodynamics And Kinetics Of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction Shock, Yevgeniy Brailovsky, J. Eduardo Rame, Thierry Le Jemtel, Indranee Rajapreyar

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

The classical paradigm of cardiogenic shock is severe impairment of left ventricular, right ventricular, or biventricular contractility resulting in decreased cardiac output and end-organ failure. In patients with preserved ejection fraction, cardiogenic shock results from impaired left ventricular filling leading to decreased cardiac output and end-organ hypoperfusion. Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) comprises a heterogenous group of myocardial and systemic metabolic derangements. Cardiogenic shock with preserved left ventricular ejection is thought to be less common than with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and therapeutic approaches are not well standardized. We aim to review the pathophysiology of cardiogenic shock …

Future Perspectives In Acute Myocarditis Complicated By Cardiogenic Shock, Giovanni A. Tavecchia, Iside Cartella, Enrico Ammirati

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Acute myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium with a highly variable clinical course. Fulminant myocarditis (FM) represents the most threatening scenario with hemodynamic compromise and cardiogenic shock at presentation. Despite medical advances and the availability of promising mechanical circulatory support (MCS), FM is burdened by a dismal prognosis. Early referral to tertiary hospitals with MCS facilities and prompt diagnosis with endomyocardial biopsy are critical steps toward optimal management. Moreover, beyond supportive care, the prevention of irreversible myocardial damage with immunomodulating therapies must be proven in clinical trials. In this editorial, we briefly describe current evidence and future perspectives …

Surviving Sepsis Campaign: Strategies To Implement In Cardiogenic Shock Management, James Burke Md

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

The Surviving Sepsis Guidelines can serve as a structure to help educate and create a set of recommendations on how to care for patients through this complicated pathway of shock. Designing a cardiogenic shock bundle could reduce the variability of care and possibly improve survival. Also, a more standard protocol would allow a review of the outcomes and a system to change practice nationally when new data or technology becomes available. This could create a continuous quality improvement cycle. Creating a “Surviving Cardiogenic Shock” system could help provide awareness for recognition of cardiogenic shock and advanced management alternatives needed at …

Role Of Invasive Hemodynamics In Shock Management: Is A Pulmonary Artery Catheter Always Necessary?, Ajay J. Kirtane

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

The pulmonary artery (PA) catheter can be a useful tool in the management of patients with cardiogenic shock; however, there are challenges with the use of this catheter, and clinicians must balance the risks and benefits. In addition, clinicians must properly interpret data generated from a PA catheter in the context of other data to optimize a patient's hemodynamics.

Hemodynamic Variations In Cardiogenic Shock Phenotypes, Jason Katz

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Patients with cardiogenic shock are not all the same. They present with a variety of hemodynamic profiles and other features that may allow us to create specific phenotypes. It is possible that phenotyping these patients at presentation may then help us to identify the optimal and earliest therapies that will improve outcomes and, at the same time, help us to overcome some of the heterogeneity currently undermining clinical trials.

Scai Shock Stage Classification: What Is Missing From The Latest Update?, Biykem Bozkurt

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

The revised Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions classifications reflect graduation of severity within each stage and pathway by which patients progress or recover. However, they are limited regarding the following: their predictive role to guide therapy; escalation of therapy or referral; variability in diagnostic criteria and interpretation; presence of other disease modifiers and confounders; variability of etiology and reversibility of cause; response to therapy and trajectory to be taken into risk stratification; magnitude and phenotypes of end-organ damage. Thus, we need a modified risk score to predict the necessity to escalate therapy and consider advanced therapies, such as mechanical …

Role Of Hypothermia In Cardiogenic Shock, Filio Billia

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

While patient management in the intensive care unit has undoubtedly improved over the last 20 years, many questions remain. Neurological prognostication has become very important and aided in improving survival outcomes over time. The limited number of randomized control trials and limitations from currently completed studies leave the field with little certainty regarding targeted temperature management. In addition, implementing hypothermia can use multiple methods and protocols that impact the interpretation and comparison of results.

Management Of Severe Aortic Stenosis In Cardiogenic Shock: Early Percutaneous Mechanical Circulatory Support Or Emergent Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement?, Sandeep Nathan

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Aortic stenosis (AS) affects an estimated 1.5 million patients in the United States, with 250,000 patients or more suffering severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis. A subset of these patients also have unrevascularized coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction, representing an extreme risk population of AS patients. Cardiogenic shock (CS) complicates a small minority of AS presentations and/or patients referred for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) but is responsible in these cases for a disproportionately high rate of morbidity and mortality. Indeed, CS results in a 4-fold increase in TAVR mortality, proportional to shock severity and largely independent of procedural complications. …

A Case Of Inferior Myocardial Infarction Complicated By Ventricular Septal Rupture Leading To Cardiogenic Shock: Tandem Heart To The Rescue!, Shehab Al-Ansari, Sachin Kumar, Angelo Nascimbene, Manish K. Patel, Igor D. Gregoric

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) is a rare but life-threatening complication of acute myocardial infarction. We present a case of VSR-related refractory cardiogenic shock that was successfully managed with TandemHeart® followed by surgical repair.

Early Unloading In Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Shock: When, How, Where, And Why?, Benedikt Schrage

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

As extracorporeal membrane oxygenation increases the left ventricular afterload, a successful treatment plan should include strategies to address this issue. One promising approach to do so is the addition of a second device for active left ventricular unloading. However, this relatively new approach is currently only based on retrospective data. This article summarizes the current perspectives on this approach, provides recommendations for its application, and highlights the need for randomized data on this topic.

Microcirculation Versus Macrocirculation In Cardiogenic Shock, Christian Jung

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Macro- and microcirculation are important parameters in cardiogenic shock. Microcirculation is relevant for monitoring organ function and prognosis. Serum lactate might be the best daily life parameter to assess microcirculation, and the crude 8-hour value can be used for outcome prediction. Any treatment should consider the consequences of microcirculation and macrocirculation.

Hemodynamics Of Prolonged Percutaneous Mechanical Circulatory Support – When Vasodilatation Sets, Holger Thiele

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Hemodynamics play an important role in cardiogenic shock assessment for prognosis estimation and for phenotyping cardiogenic shock. This is best done by pulmonary artery catheters. In general, at the beginning of cardiogenic shock, patients have vasoconstriction, which over time may lead to vasodilation. This is often triggered by percutaneous mechanical circulatory support. This review will elucidate the hemodynamics and the factors that possibly lead to vasodilation in patients with mechanical circulatory support.

Houston Shock: A Practical Scoring System Incorporating Cardiogenic Shock Dynamic Changes, Marwan F. Jumean, Sriram Nathan, Igor D. Gregoric, Biswajit Kar

Journal of Shock and Hemodynamics

Cardiogenic shock has an unacceptably high mortality rate and additional tools are needed to improve outcomes. The Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) shock severity classification has provided a unified definition of shock severity that has proven to be reproducible and predictive of survival. However, cardiogenic shock assessment goes beyond standardizing its severity, and a uniform and practical approach to comprehensive assessment that may guide therapy in a dynamic state is currently lacking.

Since cardiogenic shock is a rapidly evolving pathophysiological catastrophe, we propose a new assessment tool – the Houston SHOCK Score – which incorporates dynamic changes. The …

Role Of Echocardiography In The Intensive Care Unit: Overview Of The Most Common Clinical Scenarios, Luca Longobardo, Concetta Zito, Scipione Carerj, Giuseppe Caracciolo, Bijoy K. Khandheria

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The intensive care unit (ICU) is among the more important settings in which echocardiography plays a pivotal role. The ease of use, speed of execution, and completeness of information on heart anatomy and function that echocardiography is able to provide makes this tool the perfect diagnostic technique in patients for whom exhaustive information must be quickly obtained by physicians who sometimes lack specific skills in cardiovascular imaging. However, the clinical entities encountered by ICU clinicians are often difficult to distinguish and patient symptoms may not be obvious. This brief review describes three common clinical scenarios that benefit from echocardiography in …

Triheptanoin: A Rescue Therapy For Cardiogenic Shock In Carnitine-Acylcarnitine Translocase Deficiency., Sidharth Mahapatra, Amitha Ananth, Nancy Baugh, Mihaela Damian, Gregory M Enns

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase (CACT) deficiency is a rare long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorder (LC-FAOD) with high mortality due to cardiomyopathy or lethal arrhythmia. Triheptanoin (UX007), an investigational drug composed of synthetic medium odd-chain triglycerides, is a novel therapy in development for LC-FAOD patients. However, cases of its safe and efficacious use to reverse severe heart failure in CACT deficiency are limited. Here, we present a detailed report of an infant with CACT deficiency admitted in metabolic crisis that progressed into severe cardiogenic shock who was successfully treated by triheptanoin. The child was managed, thereafter, on triheptanoin until her death at 3 …