Improving Survival in Cardiogenic Shock—A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of the Impact of an Institutional Allocation Protocol to Short-Term Mechanical Circulatory Support

Temporary mechanical circulatory support (tMCS) is a life-saving treatment option for patients in cardiogenic shock (CS), but many aspects such as patient selection, initiation threshold and optimal modality selection remain unclear. This study describes a standard operating procedure (SOP) for tMCS allocation for CS patients and presents outcome data before and after implementation. Data from 421 patients treated for CS with tMCS between 2018 and 2021 were analyzed. In 2019, we implemented a new SOP for allocating CS patients to tMCS modalities. The association between the time of SOP implementation and the 30-day and 1-year survival as well as hospital discharge was evaluated. Of the 421 patients included, 189 were treated before (pre-SOP group) and 232 after implementation of the new SOP (SOP group). Causes of CS included acute myocardial infarction (n = 80, 19.0%), acute-on-chronic heart failure in patients with dilated or chronic ischemic heart failure (n = 139, 33.0%), valvular cardiomyopathy (n = 14, 3.3%) and myocarditis (n = 5, 1.2%); 102 patients suffered from postcardiotomy CS (24.2%). The SOP group was further divided into an SOP-adherent (SOP-A) and a non-SOP-adherent group (SOP-NA). The hospital discharge rate was higher in the SOP group (41.7% vs. 29.7%), and treating patients according to the SOP was associated with an improved 30-day survival (56.9% vs. 38.9%, OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.01–4.80, p = 0.044). Patient allocation according to the presented SOP significantly improved 30-day survival.