Changing Trends in Mechanical Circulatory Support Utilization and Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Interventions for Acute Coronary Syndrome Complicated with Cardiogenic Shock: Insights from a Nationwide Registry in Japan

BackgroundTemporal trends in the management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) complicated with cardiogenic shock (CS) after the revision of the guideline recommendations for intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) use and the approval of the Impella require further investigation as their impact remains uncertain. MethodsUsing the Japanese Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (J-PCI) registry database from 2019 to 2021 (734,379 patients from 1,190 hospitals), we extracted 24,516 patients undergoing PCI for ACS complicated with CS. Of those, 12,171 patients (49.6%) used mechanical circulatory support (MCS) during the procedure. The patients were stratified into three groups: (i) IABP alone, (ii) Impella, and (iii) venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO); the VA-ECMO group was further stratified into (iiia) VA-ECMO alone, (iiib) VA-ECMO in combination with the IABP, and (iiic) VA-ECMO in combination with the Impella (ECPella). The quarterly prevalence and outcomes were reported. ResultsDuring the study period, there were notable changes in the prevalence of different MCS modalities and their associated outcomes. The use of an IABP alone and VA-ECMO decreased significantly from 63.5% and 34.4% in the first quarter of 2019 to 58.3% and 33.0% in the fourth quarter of 2021, respectively (P for trend = 0.01 and 0.02, respectively). Among the subset of patients who required VA-ECMO (n = 4,245), the use of VA-ECMO in combination with the IABP decreased significantly from 78.7% to 67.3%, whereas the use of ECPella increased significantly from 4.2% to 17.0% (P for trend <0.001 for both). There was no significant change in the use of VA-ECMO alone. In-hospital mortality decreased significantly over time in both the overall population of patients requiring MCS and those requiring VA-ECMO (P for trend = 0.004 and <0.001, respectively). ConclusionsIn conclusion, our study revealed significant changes in the use of different MCS modalities and associated outcomes in ACS complicated with CS, highlighting the evolving patterns of MCS utilization during the study period.