Mechanical circulatory support for cardiogenic shock

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a syndrome of progressive depression of myocardial function with systemic hypoperfusion. It occurs due to various aetiologies such as acute myocardial infarction, myocarditis, acute decompensated heart failure and postcardiotomy. Cardiogenic shock carries poor prognosis, and medical therapy alone is not effective. Mechanical circulatory support is required to unload the ventricles, decrease the myocardial demand, prevent further injury, improve the coronary perfusion, stabilise the haemodynamics and maintain the end-organ perfusion before definitive interventions such as coronary reperfusion can take place. Currently, there are several methods of mechanical circulatory support. These include extracorporeal life support, paracorporeal or extracorporeal ventricular-assist devices, percutaneous ventricular assist devices, intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation and total artificial heart. In this review, we discuss the role of each of these circulatory support devices in the management of acute cardiac failure.