Combination use of a TandemHeart with an extracorporeal oxygenator in the treatment of five patients with refractory cardiogenic shock after acute myocardial infarction.

Cardiogenic shock remains the leading cause of in-hospital death for patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction. For patients with refractory cardiogenic shock, early revascularization and intra-aortic balloon pump support are often inadequate to reverse the persistent circulatory collapse. We report 5 cases in which an extracorporeal oxygenator in series with the TandemHeart system was instituted emergently in patients with refractory cardiogenic shock from acute myocardial infarction. From our experience, we showed that the device can be safely and easily inserted and that it is able to reverse circulatory collapse and provide hemodynamic stability in patients who otherwise have a high mortality rate.