Cardiogenic shock

Cardiogenic shock is a life-threatening state in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, causing inadequate tissue perfusion.

Cardiac output: The volume of blood the heart pumps per minute. Reduced cardiac output is the defining circulatory failure in cardiogenic shock.
Vasopressor: A drug that constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. Norepinephrine is often used when shock causes dangerously low blood pressure.
Acute myocardial infarction: Heart-muscle injury caused by an abrupt reduction or interruption of coronary blood flow. A large acute infarction is a frequent cause of cardiogenic shock.
Hypovolemic shock: Shock caused by an inadequate circulating blood or fluid volume. Unlike cardiogenic shock, its primary failure is insufficient circulating volume rather than pump function.
Stroke volume: The volume of blood ejected by a ventricle with each heartbeat. Impaired contraction or filling lowers stroke volume and limits forward blood flow.
Inotrope: A drug that changes the force of heart-muscle contraction. Dobutamine can increase cardiac output when weak contraction limits perfusion.
Papillary muscle rupture: A tear in a heart muscle that anchors a mitral-valve leaflet. After an infarction, rupture can cause acute severe mitral regurgitation and shock.
Distributive shock: Shock caused by widespread blood-vessel dilation and abnormal distribution of blood flow. It can produce poor perfusion despite a heart that is not the primary failing pump.
Systemic vascular resistance: The resistance that systemic blood vessels present to blood flow from the left ventricle. The body raises vascular resistance to preserve blood pressure, increasing the failing heart’s workload.
Intra-aortic balloon pump: A temporary circulatory-support device that inflates and deflates a balloon in the aorta. It can reduce cardiac workload and support coronary blood flow in selected cases.

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