[Treatment of cardiogenic shock with percutanous mechanical circulatory support]

Despite rapid revascularisation with circulatory support using inotropes and intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation, the mortality of cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction still exceeds 50%. An alternative treatment strategy is restoration of cardiac output by using a ventricular assist device which can be inserted in the acute setting using the Impella device, a catheter-based flow pump. DanShock is a Danish multicentre study that will assess whether circulatory support using the Impella device will improve the outcome of cardiogenic shock compared to conventional management.