Know About Cardiogenic Shock

When the heart is not able to pump enough blood for the needs of the body and the blood pressure falls, it is known as cardiogenic shock. Most important cause of cardiogenic shock is a heart attack. It is more likely to occur in those who are older, having blocks in multiple blood vessels of the heart, and in those with a previous heart attack. Cardiogenic shock is a potentially life threatening condition and needs urgent treatment. Even with treatment about half of those with cardiogenic shock might die. Those with cardiogenic shock may have severe shortness of breath, weak pulse, rapid heart-beats, low blood pressure, undue sweating, cold hands, and feet. Sometimes they may become unconscious due to poor blood supply to the brain. They may have clouding of mental state prior to becoming unconscious. Urine output may fall very much in cardiogenic shock as the kidneys do not get enough blood pumped into them to filter out the waste materials from the body. Medications are given as a drip to enhance the blood pressure as an emergency measure. Devices like an intra-aortic balloon pump and left ventricular assist device may be useful to some extent. Intra-aortic balloon pump uses intermittent inflation of a balloon attached to a tube placed in the aorta. The tube is inflated using the inert gas helium. Aorta is the largest blood vessel carrying oxygenated blood to the whole body. Left ventricular assist devices support the pumping function of the heart with an external pump conn...
Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs