Cardiogenic shock (CS) describes a physiological state of end-organ hypoperfusion characterized by reduced cardiac output in the presence of adequate intravascular volume. Mortality still remains exceptionally high. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) has become the preferred device for short-term hemodynamic support in patients with CS. ECMO provides the highest cardiac output, complete cardiopulmonary support. In addition, the device has portable characteristics, more familiar to medical personnel. VA ECMO provides cardiopulmonary support for patients in profound CS as a bridge to myocardial recovery. This review provides an overview of VA ECMO in salvage of CS, emphasizing the indications, management and further direction.
Objective To investigate the predictive value of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) pre-computer multiple scoring systems in the mortality of patients with cardiogenic shock. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 100 patients with cardiogenic shock due to various reasons who were treated with veno-arterial ECMO (VA-ECMO) from July 2020 to July 2022. The patients were followed up for 30 days and divided into a survival group (35 cases) and a death group (65 cases) according to whether they survived 30 days after withdrawal. General clinical data, blood biochemistry data within 24 hours before ECMO, ventilator parameters, past medical history and other data were collected, and sequential organ failure score (SOFA) before VA-ECMO, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHEⅡ), survival after veno-arterial ECMO (SAVE) score and modified SAVE score were calculated. Blood biochemical indicators and clinical scores related to patient prognosis were screened using two-independent sample t test or Man-Whitney U test. The predictive efficacy of each score on short-term prognosis (30-day post-discharge mortality) was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve and area under curve (AUC). Results There were significant differences in APACHEⅡ score, SAVE score and modified SAVE score between two groups (P<0.05). The AUC and its 95%CI of APACHEⅡ score was 0.696 (95%CI 0.592 - 0.801), of SAVE score was 0.617 (95%CI 0.498 - 0.736), and of post SAVE score was 0.664 (95%CI 0.545 - 0.782), respectively. All AUCs were relatively low (<0.75). Conclusion SOFA, APACHEⅡ, SAVE score and modified SAVE score have limited clinical value in the prognosis assessment of ECMO patients, and do not show obvious advantages.
Objective To explore the clinical effects of emergency transcatheter aortic replacement (TAVR) on the treatment of patients with acute refractory heart failure or cardiogenic shock secondary to severe aortic stenosis during hospitalization. Methods The study selected 44 patients from 8 heart valve centers from January 2018 to January 2021. All patients received emergency TAVR treatment. The patients’ baseline clinical data, cardiac ultrasound indicators, and postoperative hospital stay were collected. Paired t-test and McNemar test were used to compare and analyze the preoperative and postoperative cardiac ultrasound indexes, moderate to severe aortic stenosis, and cardiac function. Results The average age of the patients was (72.0±7.9) years. Valve displacement occurred in one patient during the operation, and the surgical success rate was 97.7%. Four cases died during hospitalization, and the mortality rate was 9.1%. The median length of hospital stay was 11.5 d. The postoperative aortic valve area was significantly higher than that before surgery [(0.5±0.2) vs. (3.8±1.6) mm2, P<0.05], the mean transvalvular pressure of the aortic valve was significantly lower than that before operation [(64.0±24.9) vs. (11.3±4.6) mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa), P<0.05], the peak aortic flow velocity was significantly lower than that before operation [(4.5±0.7) vs. (1.9±0.7) m/s, P<0.05], the left ventricular end diastolic inner diameter was lower than that before operation [(59.0±7.2) vs. (56.1±7.3) mm, P<0.05], the left ventricular ejection fraction increased significantly compared with that before operation [(30.1±10.4)% vs. (40.9±11.0)%, P<0.05], and the cardiac function improved significantly compared with that before operation (P<0.05). During the operation, 2 cases (4.5%) underwent valve-in-valve implantation, 11 cases (25.0%) underwent percutaneous coronary intervention during the same period. During the postoperative hospital stay, 1 case (2.3%) developed stroke, 3 cases (6.8%) experienced severe bleeding, 5 cases (11.4%) had severe vascular complications, 2 cases (4.5%) experienced acute myocardial infarction, 30 cases (68.2%) had small or trace paravalvular regurgitation, 3 cases (6.8%) received permanent pacemaker implantation, and 5 cases (11.4%) developed acute kidney injury. Conclustion Emergency TAVR is an effective and feasible treatment plan for patients with acute refractory heart failure or cardiogenic shock secondary to severe aortic stenosis.
Objective To systematically evaluate the effect of the timing of left ventricular (LV) unloading on the outcomes of patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMbase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), SinoMed, and the VIP databases from their inception to February 2025. Literature screening was conducted according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two researchers independently assessed the study quality and extracted the data. Patients were divided into an early unloading group and a late unloading group based on the timing of LV unloading. RevMan 5.4 software was used to perform the heterogeneity test and meta-analysis. Results A total of 8 studies involving 2 117 patients were included (1 338 in the early unloading group and 779 in the late unloading group). The meta-analysis showed no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the rates of successful ECMO weaning, in-hospital mortality, or 30-day all-cause mortality (all P>0.05). Compared with the late unloading group, the early unloading group had a lower risk of sepsis [RR=0.79, 95% CI (0.64, 0.96), P=0.02] and abdominal complications [RR=0.67, 95% CI (0.46, 0.96), P=0.03]. ConclusionCompared with late LV unloading, early LV unloading does not significantly improve the successful ECMO weaning rate or early survival. However, early LV unloading is associated with a reduced risk of sepsis and abdominal complications.
Aortic stenosis accounts for a large proportion of valvular heart disease in China. This article described an unusual case of severe aortic stenosis with severe cardiopulmonary decompensation treated by emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Preoperative assessment was performed by transesophageal echocardiography. The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation team was informed to be ready. During the operation, no obvious perivalve leakage was observed after valve released. The transvalvular pressure gradient decreased to 7 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa).The patient’s symptoms were completely relieved after the operation, and no adverse events occurred during the hospitalization. After discharge, color Doppler echocardiography showed that stenosis was eliminated, cardiac function was improved, no significant perivalvular leakage was observed, and pulmonary hypertension reduced to moderate. The success of this operation confirmed the efficacy of emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement, and showed that after a rigorous evaluation, emergency transcatheter aortic valve replacement may be a reasonable choice for patients with severe aortic valve stenosis.
Objective To summarize the efficacy and clinical experiences of emergent coronary artery bypass grafting (E-CABG) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and to discuss the operative opportunity and procedures. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 21 patients with AMI undergoing E-CABG in Sun Yatsen Cardiovascular Disease Hospital between June 1999 and December 2009. Among the patients, there were 14 males and 7 females with their age ranged from 24 to 81 years (63.9±12.4 years). Six patients were operated within 6 hours after the onset of AMI, 7 patients were operated from 6 hours to 3 days after the onset of AMI, and 8 patients were operated from 3 days to 30 days after the onset of AMI. Eight patients had the cardiogenic shock after AMI, one had rupture of ventricular septum and cardiogenic shock, two had rupture of coronary artery after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, eight had unstable angina and frequent ventricular arrhythmia, one had ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest, and one had cardiac trauma. Ten patients were treated with intraaortic balloon pump (IABP). Conventional CABG was performed for 12 patients, off-pump CABG for 5 patients, and on-pump-beating CABG for 4 patients. Results Five patients died after E-CABG with a mortality of 23.8% which was obviously higher than the overall CABG mortality (23.8% vs. 3.1%, χ2=21.184, P＜0.05). There were respectively 2, 2 and 1 deaths with a mortality of 33.3%, 28.6% and 12.5% respectively for operations within 6 hours, 6 hours to 3 days and 3 to 30 days after the onset of AMI. The mortality of those patients who were operated within 3 days after AMI was obviously lower (P＜0.05). The primary causes of death were low cardiac output syndrome, perioperative acute myocardial infarction after CABG and sapremia. There was one death each for patients operated with off-pump and on-pump-beating CABG. Sixteeen patients were discharged from the hospital. The follow-up was from 6 months to 10 years. There were 6 late deaths among which 5 died of cardiac failure accompanied by pulmonary infection, one died of noncardiac factor. Ten patients survived at present, and the quality of life among 5 patients was unsatisfactory. Conclusion The mortality of E-CABG is obviously higher in patients operated within 3 days of AMI. With the support of IABP, if the operation can be carried out 3 days after the onset of AMI, the surgical success rate will be greatly improved by adopting proper offpump and onpumpbeating procedures.