Can Escalation Reduce Acute Myocardial Infarction Mortality in Cardiogenic Shock

The CERAMICS study is designed to more clearly delineate the current care of acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock (AMICS) patients who are treated with mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices in the United States with significant experience in MCS, all of whom have the capability of MCS escalation on-site. Study enrollment is targeted at 120 patients at 20 hospital sites, evaluating clinical outcomes, and focusing on outcomes MCS escalation decision making and ICU level management.

The National Cardiogenic Shock Initiative (NCSI) was an initial step in helping to provide team based protocolized care in AMICS. Over the past 5 years, further evaluation and research has helped identify additional best practices that may contribute to further improving outcomes.

Vasopressors have been identified as being independently associated with worse outcomes and MCS escalation may lead to improvement. While sites participating in the NCSI were early adopters of MCS in AMICS, MCS escalation was open ended and dictated by variable local practice patterns. This contributed to the overall low rate of MCS escalation which occurred in NCSI.

Approximately 30-40% of patients with AMICS have concomitant right ventricular failure (RVF), which is associated with worse morality and may therefore benefit from consideration of early right ventricular mechanical circulatory support (RV-MCS) devices.

A total of 20 total sites will be accepted into the CERAMICS study with the goal of gathering data and outcomes of 120 patients treated at participating centers. The study is expected to collect data for approximately 2 years. Prior to joining the study, each site must have broad adoption of the NCSI treatment algorithm as the standard of care for AMICS among at least 80% of the interventional cardiologists who take STEMI call, as confirmed by the site principal investigator (PI).

It is critically important to track consecutive AMICS patients at each site to assess outcomes by identifying the total sample size treated and to help identify if there were particular biases regarding the use of MCS or escalation of MCS. We will also track survival to hospital discharge of those AMICS patients not treated with MCS via an exclusion form, as well as with patients treated with MCS including when care deviates from the study protocol.

All study data collection is occurring retrospectively at each time-point only using EMR, and there will be no contact between study personnel and patients. Patients will be discharged or deceased at the time of study entry. During participation in the study, study sites will regularly screen all acute MI patient records (STEMI and NSTEMI) for patients who presented with cardiogenic shock (AMICS) via a screening form.