Body mass index and outcomes of patients with cardiogenic shock: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Cardiogenic shock continues to be a highly morbid complication that affects around 7%-10% of patients with acute myocardial infarction or heart failure. Similarly, obesity has become a worldwide epidemic. AIM: To analyze the impact of higher body mass index (BMI) on outcomes of patients with cardiogenic shock. METHODS: A systematic and comprehensive search was undertaken on the electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar for all types of studies comparing mortality outcomes of patients with cardiogenic shock based on BMI. All studies defined overweight or obese patients based on the World Health Organization BMI criteria. The data were then extracted and assessed on the basis of the Reference Citation Analysis (https://www.referencecitationanalysis.com/). RESULTS: Five studies were included. On pooled analysis of multivariable-adjusted ratios, we noted a statistically significantly reduced risk of mortality in overweight/obese vs normal patients (three studies; odds ratio [OR] = 0.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85-0.98, I(2 )= 85%). On meta-analysis, we noted that crude mortality rates did not significantly differ between overweight/obese and normal patients after cardiogenic shock (OR = 0.95, 95%CI: 0.79-1.15, I(2) = 99%). The results were not stable on sensitivity analysis and were associated with substantial heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: Current evidence on the association between overweight/obesity and mortality after cardiogenic shock is scarce and conflicting. The obesity paradox might exist in patients with cardiogenic shock but could be confounded by the use of mechanical circulatory support. There is a need for further studies to clarify this relationship.