Aims: Despite rising rates of cardiogenic shock (CS), data on trends and in-hospital outcomes of short-term non-durable mechanical circulatory support (MCS) are limited. Thus, we aimed to identify recent national trends in MCS utilisation in the USA, patient-level predictors of MCS use, and in-hospital outcomes in CS inclusive of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Methods and results: Hospitalisations of US adults with a discharge diagnosis of CS, from January 2004 to December 2014, in the National Inpatient Sample were included. Rates of MCS were stratified by device type and clinical presentation. Outcomes included in-hospital mortality, hospitalisation costs, and number of procedures. A total of 183,516 hospitalisations with CS (47,636 [25.9%] involving MCS) were included. MCS recipients were younger, less frequently female, received more procedures, had higher costs, and more frequently presented with MI (MCS vs. non-MCS: 71.6% vs. 42.9%; p<0.0001). Growth in CS hospitalisations (214.4%) outpaced annual MCS use (160.0%), with relative declines in intra-aortic balloon pump use starting in 2008. Right heart catheterisation rates for both groups remained low (MCS vs. non-MCS: 5.9% vs. 3.3%; p<0.0001). In-hospital mortality declined but remained high in both groups (MCS vs. non-MCS [2014]: 32.7% vs. 41.5%; p<0.0001).
Conclusions: In-hospital mortality for CS has declined but remains high. Rates of CS have outpaced MCS utilisation which remains uncommon in non-MI hospitalisations with shock. MCS is associated with utilisation of other procedures during hospitalisation.