Extracorporeal life support for cardiogenic shock: influence of concomitant intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation

Intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation (IABP) during extracorporeal life support (ECLS) for cardiogenic shock may improve pulsatility and coronary perfusion, thereby promoting recovery of cardiac function. However, the risks and benefits of IABP during ECLS in real clinical settings have not been evaluated. This study aims to evaluate the effect of IABP on the early outcome of ECLS for cardiogenic shock.

We evaluated 253 adult patients (aged 58.8 ± 15.3 [mean ± standard deviation] years, 154 males) undergoing ECLS for cardiogenic shock from January 2005 to August 2012. Of them, 60 patients underwent concomitant IABP (IABP group) and 193 underwent ECLS only (control group). In-hospital outcomes were compared using the inverse probability of treatment weighting based on propensity scores.

The indications for ECLS were low cardiac output after cardiac surgery in 118 patients (46.6%), heart failure in 71 (28.1%), acute myocardial infarction in 49 (19.4%) and others in 15 (5.9%). Successful ECLS weaning rate was significantly higher in the IABP group than in the control group (61.7 vs 42.0%, P = 0.008); however, there was no significant difference in in-hospital mortality between the two groups (68.6 vs 72.0%, P = 0.58). After adjustment for propensity of treatment assignment conditional on baseline characteristics, the IABP group showed a decreased risk of weaning failure (odds ratio [OR] 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.28-0.92, P = 0.024) but with a similar risk of in-hospital mortality (OR 0.85; 95% CI 0.46-1.60; P = 0.62) compared with the control group.

The use of IABP during ECLS increased a successful ECLS weaning rate, but was not translated into improved survival. Studies on larger populations may verify the survival effect of IABP during ECLS.