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Cardiogenic shock is life-threatening and requires rapid diagnosis and identification of the cause, and emergency medical treatment. Treatments include medicines, heart procedures, and medical devices to support or restore blood flow in the body and prevent organ damage. Because cardiogenic shock is a serious medical condition affecting multiple body organs, a team of medical specialists usually provides care. Some medical devices may be used temporarily to stabilize or support you until a permanent device can be implanted or until a heart transplant can be performed. For people who have severe organ damage and may not survive after cardiogenic shock, palliative care or hospice care may help them have a better quality of life with fewer symptoms.

Your doctor will check your medical history, perform a physical exam, and do tests and procedures to diagnose cardiogenic shock. Tests are usually done after you have been admitted to a hospital for a possible heart attack or symptoms of shock. If the reason for the shock is that the heart is not pumping strongly enough, then the diagnosis is cardiogenic shock.

Signs and symptoms of cardiogenic shock vary depending on how quickly and how low your blood pressure drops. Cardiogenic shock may start with mild symptoms, such as feeling confused or breathing rapidly, or a person may have no symptoms and then suddenly lose consciousness. Cardiogenic shock is a life-threatening emergency. Complications may include organ damage or organ failure.

Currently there are no routine screening tests for cardiogenic shock. The main cause of cardiogenic shock is a heart attack, which is a complication of ischemic heart disease. You can reduce your risk for cardiogenic shock by adopting heart-healthy lifestyle changes to help prevent ischemic heart disease. If you already have ischemic heart disease or another heart condition, follow your doctor’s instructions about taking care of your health, getting regular check-ups, and taking medicines.

You may have an increased risk of cardiogenic shock because of your age, any cardiovascular or other medical conditions you have, medical procedures, your race or ethnicity, and your sex.

Causes of cardiogenic shock include heart attack and other heart problems, problems outside of the heart, and medicines or procedures. A heart attack is the most common cause because it can damage the heart’s structure in different ways. Less often, a problem elsewhere in the body blocks blood flow coming into or out of the heart and leads to cardiogenic shock.

It is important to follow your treatment plan, including taking medicines prescribed by your doctor, making healthy lifestyle choices, and getting regular medical checkups. It is also important to know your risk of and what to do if you experience complications that are specific to the stent in your body.

After the procedure to place a coronary stent, carotid stent, or airway stent, you will recover in the hospital for a few hours or overnight. For stent grafts, you may be in the hospital for a longer time. Although not common, you may also experience complications from the stenting procedure.

Having a stent placed is a minimally invasive procedure, meaning it is not a major surgery. Stents for coronary arteries and carotid arteries are placed in similar ways. A stent graft is placed to treat an aneurysm in a procedure called aortic aneurysm repair. Airway stents are placed in a procedure that helps open airways in the lung. For most stents, you will be given medicine to make you sleep during the procedure. The stent procedure may be planned ahead of time or it may be performed in an emergency situation.

Your doctor and specialists on your healthcare team can determine if you need a stent by using certain tests and procedures. If you need a stent, talk to your doctor about how to prepare for the procedure.