Concomitant Sepsis Diagnoses in Acute Myocardial Infarction-Cardiogenic Shock: 15-Year National Temporal Trends, Management, and Outcomes

Objectives: Mixed cardiogenic-septic shock is common and associated with high mortality. There are limited contemporary data on concomitant sepsis in acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock (AMI-CS).

Design: Observational study.

Setting: Twenty percent stratified sample of all community hospitals (2000-2014) in the United States.

Participants: Adults (> 18 yr) with AMI-CS with and without concomitant sepsis.

Interventions: None.

Measurements and main results: Outcomes of interest included inhospital mortality, development of noncardiac organ failure, complications, utilization of guideline-directed procedures, length of stay, and hospitalization costs. Over 15 years, 444,253 AMI-CS admissions were identified, of which 27,057 (6%) included sepsis. The sepsis cohort had more comorbidities and had higher rates of noncardiac multiple organ failure (92% vs 69%) (all p < 0.001). In 2014, compared with 2000, the prevalence of sepsis increased from 0.5% versus 11.5% with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 11.71 (95% CI, 9.7-14.0) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and 24.6 (CI, 16.4-36.7) (all p < 0.001) in non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. The sepsis cohort received fewer cardiac interventions (coronary angiography [65% vs 68%], percutaneous coronary intervention [43% vs 48%]) and had greater use of mechanical circulatory support (48% vs 45%) and noncardiac support (invasive mechanical ventilation [65% vs 41%] and acute hemodialysis [12% vs 3%]) (p < 0.001). The sepsis cohort had higher inhospital mortality (44.3% vs 38.1%; aOR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.18-1.25; p < 0.001), longer length of stay (14.0 d [7-24 d] vs 7.0 d [3-12 d]), greater hospitalization costs (×1,000 U.S. dollars) ($176.0 [$85-$331] vs $77.0 [$36-$147]), fewer discharges to home (22% vs 44%) and more discharges to skilled nursing facilities (51% vs 28%) (all p < 0.001).

Conclusions: In AMI-CS, concomitant sepsis is associated with higher mortality and morbidity highlighting the need for early recognition and integrated management of mixed shock.