Abstract
Cardiogenic shock is defined by low cardiac output with consecutive organ dysfunction.
Most frequently caused by an underlying myocardial infarction, patients suffer from
a severely impaired prognosis with a mortality of 50 – 80 %. Patients should be diagnosed
and treated immediately after admission with fluids, dobutamine, and, if necessary,
norepinephrine (early goal directed therapy). The only specific treatment proven to
be beneficial to date in terms of long-term prognosis is urgent revascularization.
Therefore, rapid transfer to a PCI center is mandatory. Detailed information on the
various treatment modalities are summarized in this article and available in the German-Austrian
S3-guidelines for the treatment of cardiogenic shock (http://leitlinien.dgk.org/files/2011_Leitlinie_kardiogener_Schock.pdf).