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Background Cardiac arrest (CA) is associated with worse outcomes in patients with cardiogenic shock (CS). To better understand the contribution of CA on CS, we evaluated transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) parameters in CS patients with and without CA. Methods We retrospectively identified CS patients with a TTE performed near cardiac intensive care unit admission between 2007 to 2018. We compared TTE measurements of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) function in patients with and without CA. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality, as determined using multivariable logistic regression. Results We included 1085 patients, 35% of whom had CA. Median age was 70 years and 37% were females. CA patients had higher severity of illness, more invasive mechanical ventilation and greater vasopressor/inotrope use. In-hospital mortality was 31% and was higher in CA patients (45% vs. 23%, p <0.001). Although LV ejection fraction (LVEF) was similar (35% vs. 37%, p = 0.05), CA patients had lower cardiac index, mitral valve E wave peak velocity, E/A ratio and E/e' ratio. TTE variables that were associated with hospital mortality varied, among patients with CA, these included measures of RV pressure and function and among patients without CA, these included parameters reflecting LV systolic function. Conclusions Doppler assessments of RV systolic dysfunction were the strongest TTE predictors of hospital mortality in CS patients with CA, unlike CS patients without CA in whom LV systolic function was more important. This emphasizes the importance of RV assessment for mortality risk stratification after CA.

AbstractTargeted temperature management (TTM) has become a cornerstone in the treatment of comatose post-cardiac arrest patients over the last two decades. Belief in the efficacy of this intervention for improving neurologically intact survival was based on two trials from 2002, one truly randomized-controlled and one small quasi-randomized trial, without clear confirmation of that finding. Subsequent large randomized trials reported no difference in outcomes between TTM at 33 vs. 36°C and no benefit of TTM at 33°C as compared with fever control alone. Given that these results may help shape post-cardiac arrest patient care, we sought to review the history and rationale as well as trial evidence for TTM, critically review the TTM2 trial, and highlight gaps in knowledge and research needs for the future. Finally, we provide contemporary guidance for the use of TTM in daily clinical practice.

Background Lactic acidosis is associated with mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock (CS). Elevated lactate levels and systemic acidemia (low blood pH) have both been proposed as drivers of death. We, therefore, analyzed the association of both high lactate concentrations and low blood pH with 30‐day mortality in patients with CS. Methods and Results This was a 2‐center historical cohort study of unselected patients with CS with available data for admission lactate level or blood pH. CS severity was graded using the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention (SCAI) shock classification. All‐cause survival at 30 days was analyzed using Kaplan‐Meier curves and Cox proportional‐hazards analysis. There were 1814 patients with CS (mean age, 67.3 years; 68.5% men); 51.8% had myocardial infarction and 53.0% had cardiac arrest. The distribution of SCAI shock stages was B, 10.8%; C, 30.7%; D, 38.1%; and E, 18.7%. In both cohorts, higher lactate or lower pH predicted a higher risk of adjusted 30‐day mortality. Patients with a lactate ≥5 mmol/L or pH <7.2 were at increased risk of adjusted 30‐day mortality; patients with both lactate ≥5 mmol/L and pH <7.2 had the highest risk of adjusted 30‐day mortality. Patients in SCAI shock stages C, D, and E had higher 30‐day mortality in each SCAI shock stage if they had lactate ≥5 mmol/L or pH <7.2, particularly if they met both criteria. Conclusions Higher lactate and lower pH predict mortality in patients with cardiogenic shock beyond standard measures of shock severity. Severe lactic acidosis may serve as a risk modifier for the SCAI shock classification. Definitions of refractory or hemometabolic shock should include high lactate levels and low blood pH.

Abstract Background Preoperative risk scores facilitate patient selection, but postoperative risk scores may offer valuable information for predicting outcomes. We hypothesized that the postoperative Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score would predict mortality after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Methods We retrospectively reviewed data from 294 continuous‐flow LVAD implantations performed at Mayo Clinic Rochester during 2007 to 2015. We calculated the EuroSCORE, HeartMate‐II Risk Score, and RV Failure Risk Score from preoperative data and the APACHE III and Post Cardiac Surgery (POCAS) risk scores from postoperative data. Daily, maximum, and mean SOFA scores were calculated for the first 5 postoperative days. The area under receiver‐operator characteristic curves (AUC) was calculated to compare the scoring systems' ability to predict 30‐day, 90‐day, and 1‐year mortality. Results For the entire cohort, mortality was 5% at 30 days, 10% at 90 days, and 19% at 1 year. The Day 1 SOFA score had better discrimination for 30‐day mortality (AUC 0.77) than the preoperative risk scores or the APACHE III and POCAS postoperative scores. The maximum SOFA score had the best discrimination for 30‐day mortality (AUC 0.86), and the mean SOFA score had the best discrimination for 90‐day mortality (AUC 0.82) and 1‐year mortality (AUC 0.76). Conclusions We observed that postoperative mean and maximum SOFA scores in LVAD recipients predict short‐term and intermediate‐term mortality better than preoperative risk scores do. However, because preoperative and postoperative risk scores each contribute unique information, they are best used in concert to predict outcomes after LVAD implantation.

Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension (PH), defined as an elevated mean pulmonary artery pressure, has been consistently associated with adverse outcomes in hospitalized patients. Limited epidemiologic data exist regarding PH in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) population. We used transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to describe the prevalence, etiology, and outcomes of PH in the CICU. Hypothesis: PH will be associated with higher in-hospital mortality in CICU patients. Methods: CICU patients admitted from 2007 to 2018 who had right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) measured via TTE within 1 day of CICU admission were included. PH was defined as an estimated RVSP >35 mmHg. Predictors of in-hospital mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression. Results: We included 5042 patients with a mean age of 69.4±14.8 (41% females); 81.1% had an admission diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome or heart failure. PH was present in 3085 (61%); the majority (68%) of patients with PH had left heart failure, and 29% had lung disease. In-hospital mortality occurred in 8% and was higher in patients with PH (11% vs. 4%, adjusted OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.03-1.92, p =0.03). PH was associated with higher in-hospital mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome, heart failure or cardiac arrest (all p <0.01), but not in patients with cardiogenic shock, respiratory failure or sepsis ( Figure ). In-hospital mortality increased as a function of higher RVSP in each admission diagnosis group (adjusted 1.18 per 10 mmHg higher in the entire cohort, 95% CI 1.09-1.28, p <0.001). Conclusions: PH by TTE is very common in the CICU population and remains associated with a higher risk of death during hospitalization even after adjustment. TTE assessment of right heart hemodynamics can predict mortality in CICU patients, with variability across common admission diagnoses. This highlights the importance of PH determined by TTE in hospitalized patients with cardiac critical illness.

Introduction: Ventricular dysfunction contributes to shock in cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) patients. We aimed to describe the associations between ventricular dysfunction with in-hospital mortality across the spectrum of shock severity. Hypothesis: Patients with biventricular dysfunction (BVD) have higher mortality at each Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention (SCAI) shock stage. Methods: We identified CICU patients from 2007 to 2015 with available echocardiography data within 1 day of admission. Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) was defined as left ventricular ejection fraction <40% and right ventricular systolic dysfunction (RVSD) as moderate or greater systolic dysfunction by semi-quantitative assessment; BVD included the presence of both LVSD and RVSD. Predictors of in-hospital mortality were determined after adjustment using multivariable logistic regression. Results: We included 3,158 patients with a mean age of 68.2±14.6 years; 51.8% had acute coronary syndromes. LVSD was present in 22.3%, RVSD in 11.8%, and 16.4% had BVD. Hospital mortality increased with SCAI shock stage and was incrementally higher in patients with LVSD, RVSD and BVD across SCAI shock stages (Figure); patients with BVD had higher mortality in each SCAI shock stage. After adjustment, there was no difference in in-hospital mortality for patients with LVSD or RVSD versus those without ventricular dysfunction (p >0.05), but BVD was independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality (adjusted HR 1.815, 95% CI 1.237-2.663, p = 0.0023). Adding ventricular dysfunction to SCAI shock stage increased discrimination for hospital mortality (AUC 0.784 vs. 0.766, p <0.001). Conclusions: Among patients admitted to the CICU, BVD was independently associated with higher hospital mortality after adjustment for shock severity. Echocardiographic assessment may augment clinical risk stratification using the SCAI shock classification.

OBJECTIVES: Mixed cardiogenic-septic shock is common and associated with high mortality. There are limited contemporary data on concomitant sepsis in acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS). DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Twenty percent stratified sample of all community hospitals (2000–2014) in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Adults (> 18 yr) with AMI-CS with and without concomitant sepsis. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Outcomes of interest included inhospital mortality, development of noncardiac organ failure, complications, utilization of guideline-directed procedures, length of stay, and hospitalization costs. Over 15 years, 444,253 AMI-CS admissions were identified, of which 27,057 (6%) included sepsis. The sepsis cohort had more comorbidities and had higher rates of noncardiac multiple organ failure (92% vs 69%) (all p < 0.001). In 2014, compared with 2000, the prevalence of sepsis increased from 0.5% versus 11.5% with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 11.71 (95% CI, 9.7–14.0) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and 24.6 (CI, 16.4–36.7) (all p < 0.001) in non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. The sepsis cohort received fewer cardiac interventions (coronary angiography [65% vs 68%], percutaneous coronary intervention [43% vs 48%]) and had greater use of mechanical circulatory support (48% vs 45%) and noncardiac support (invasive mechanical ventilation [65% vs 41%] and acute hemodialysis [12% vs 3%]) (p < 0.001). The sepsis cohort had higher inhospital mortality (44.3% vs 38.1%; aOR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.18–1.25; p < 0.001), longer length of stay (14.0 d [7–24 d] vs 7.0 d [3–12 d]), greater hospitalization costs (×1,000 U.S. dollars) ($176.0 [$85–$331] vs $77.0 [$36–$147]), fewer discharges to home (22% vs 44%) and more discharges to skilled nursing facilities (51% vs 28%) (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In AMI-CS, concomitant sepsis is associated with higher mortality and morbidity highlighting the need for early recognition and integrated management of mixed shock.

Aims Early risk stratification is essential to guide treatment in cardiogenic shock (CS). Existing CS risk scores were derived in selected cohorts, without accounting for the heterogeneity of CS. The aim of this study was to develop a universal risk score (the Cardiogenic Shock Score, CSS) for all CS patients, irrespective of the underlying cause. Methods and results Within a registry of 1308 CS unselected patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital between 2009 and 2019, a Cox regression model was fitted to derive the CSS, with 30‐day mortality as main outcome. The CSS's predictive ability was compared to the IABP‐SHOCK II score, the CardShock score and SCAI classification by C‐indices and validated in an external cohort of 934 CS patients. Based on the Cox regression, nine predictors were included in the CSS: age, sex, acute myocardial infarction (AMI‐CS), systolic blood pressure, heart rate, pH, lactate, glucose and cardiac arrest. The CSS had the highest C‐index in the overall cohort (0.740 vs. 0.677/0.683 for IABP‐SHOCK II score/CardShock score), in patients with AMI‐CS (0.738 vs. 0.675/0.689 for IABP‐SHOCK II score/CardShock score) and in patients with non‐AMI‐CS (0.734 vs. 0.677/0.669 for IABP‐SHOCK II score/CardShock score). In the external validation cohort, the CSS had a C‐index of 0.73, which was higher than all other tested scores. Conclusion The CSS provides improved information on the risk of death in unselected patients with CS compared to existing scores, irrespective of its cause. Because it is based on point‐of‐care variables which can be obtained even in critical situations, the CSS has the potential to guide treatment decisions in CS.

AbstractBackgroundProposed phenotypes have recently been identified in cardiogenic shock (CS) populations using unsupervised machine learning clustering methods. We sought to validate these phenotypes in a mixed cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) population of patients with CS.MethodsWe included Mayo Clinic CICU patients admitted from 2007 to 2018 with CS. Agnostic K means clustering was used to assign patients to three clusters based on admission values of estimated glomerular filtration rate, bicarbonate, alanine aminotransferase, lactate, platelets, and white blood cell count. In‐hospital mortality and 1‐year mortality were analyzed using logistic regression and Cox proportional‐hazards models, respectively.ResultsWe included 1498 CS patients with a mean age of 67.8 ± 13.9 years, and 37.1% were females. The acute coronary syndrome was present in 57.3%, and cardiac arrest was present in 34.0%. Patients were assigned to clusters as follows: Cluster 1 (noncongested), 603 (40.2%); Cluster 2 (cardiorenal), 452 (30.2%); and Cluster 3 (hemometabolic), 443 (29.6%). Clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic characteristics differed across clusters, with the greatest illness severity in Cluster 3. Cluster assignment was associated with in‐hospital mortality across subgroups. In‐hospital mortality was higher in Cluster 3 (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 2.6 vs. Cluster 1 and adjusted OR: 2.0 vs. Cluster 2, both p < 0.001). Adjusted 1‐year mortality was incrementally higher in Cluster 3 versus Cluster 2 versus Cluster 1 (all p < 0.01).ConclusionsWe observed similar phenotypes in CICU patients with CS as previously reported, identifying a gradient in both in‐hospital and 1‐year mortality by cluster. Identifying these clinical phenotypes can improve mortality risk stratification for CS patients beyond standard measures.

Abstract Aims Contemporary cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) outcomes remain highly heterogeneous. As such, a risk-stratification tool using readily available lab data at time of CICU admission may help inform clinical decision-making. Methods and results The primary derivation cohort included 4352 consecutive CICU admissions across 25 tertiary care CICUs included in the Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network (CCCTN) Registry. Candidate lab indicators were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. An integer risk score incorporating the top independent lab indicators associated with in-hospital mortality was developed. External validation was performed in a separate CICU cohort of 9716 patients from the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA). On multivariable analysis, lower pH [odds ratio (OR) 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.72–2.24], higher lactate (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.22–1.62), lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.10–1.45), and lower platelets (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05–1.32) were the top four independent lab indicators associated with higher in-hospital mortality. Incorporated into the CCCTN Lab-Based Risk Score, these four lab indicators identified a 20-fold gradient in mortality risk with very good discrimination (C-index 0.82, 95% CI 0.80–0.84) in the derivation cohort. Validation of the risk score in a separate cohort of 3888 patients from the Registry demonstrated good performance (C-index of 0.82; 95% CI 0.80–0.84). Performance remained consistent in the external validation cohort (C-index 0.79, 95% CI 0.77–0.80). Calibration was very good in both validation cohorts (r = 0.99). Conclusion A simple integer risk score utilizing readily available lab indicators at time of CICU admission may accurately stratify in-hospital mortality risk.