Percutaneous atrial septostomy for urgent palliative treatment of severe refractory cardiogenic shock due to right ventricular infarction.

We report a novel palliative treatment to improve refractory cardiogenic shock due to right ventricular ischemia. We performed percutaneous atrial septostomy to create an atrial septal defect, which resulted in immediate right ventricular decompression and increased left ventricular filling associated with prompt and dramatic hemodynamic and clinical improvement. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.