Cardiogenic shock due to mechanical complications after STEMI is bimodal and occurs in most cases within 24 hours. Risk factors for mechanical complications include female sex, older age, and delayed or no reperfusion in the infarct area. Early echocardiography is very helpful in clarifying the etiology of cardiogenic shock and guiding subsequent definitive treatment. Cardiogenic shock has a high in-hospital mortality rate of nearly 50%, and even higher in patients aged 75 years and older. After experiencing cardiogenic shock, a follow-up appointment with a doctor is necessary. If you receive a medical device to improve your heart, you should see your doctor regularly to make sure it is working properly. Both are forms of shock, meaning that organs and tissues are not getting the oxygen they need. However, the causes of these life-threatening conditions are varied. A heart attack usually causes cardiogenic shock. Infection causes septic shock. No, cardiogenic shock is not a heart attack. However, the most common cause of cardiogenic shock is heart attack. The main cause of cardiogenic shock is left ventricular failure secondary to extensive acute myocardial infarction (MI) or cumulative loss of myocardial function in patients with previous MI. However, the cause of severe left ventricular (LV) or right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is cardiogenic shock such as fulminant myocarditis, end-stage cardiomyopathy, mechanical complications of acute myocardial infarction, and prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass. May lead to Takotsubo cardiomyopathy may be accompanied by cardiogenic shock. Acute valvular regurgitation due to endocarditis or notochord rupture can cause shock, as can physiologic stress from severe valvular stenosis. Cardiac tamponade and massive pulmonary embolism with acute right ventricular failure can cause shock without pulmonary edema. An important consideration is that some cardiogenic shock may have an iatrogenic component due to drugs that exacerbate hypotension. Early diagnosis of impending shock and identification of patients at high risk of developing shock are essential to facilitate intervention and avoid potentially hemodynamically-compromising treatments. After declining over the past two decades, the incidence of cardiogenic shock complicated by acute myocardial infarction appears to be increasing for unknown reasons. However, cardiogenic shock-related mortality continues to decline as effective early treatment and wider adoption of early revascularization have improved outcomes. Only about 25% of patients who develop cardiogenic shock were in shock when they first arrived at the hospital. In others, shock usually develops over hours. Early- and late-stage shock patients share similar demographic, historical, clinical, and hemodynamic features. Risk factors for developing cardiogenic shock in MI are LV dysfunction and coronary artery disease (CAD) severity. Patient characteristics included advanced age, anterior myocardial infarction, diabetes, hypertension, multivascular CAD, previous myocardial infarction, and peripheral or cerebrovascular disease. Clinical risk factors include reduced ejection fraction, larger infarcts, and lack of compensatory hyperkinesia in myocardial regions remote from the infarction. Clinical precursors of impending shock are the degree of hypotension and tachycardia in the hospital. Factors that predict mortality after cardiogenic shock reflect severity of acute injury and comorbidities. Coronary angiography most commonly shows multivessel CAD, left primary stenosis in 30% of patients, and trivessel coronary artery disease in 60% of patients. Multivessel CAD may help explain the lack of compensatory hyperkinesis in distant myocardial segments. Many emotions can surface when you survive a heart attack or cardiogenic shock. It's okay to talk to a counselor, friend, or support group about what you're going through. You may need to make changes to your healthy lifestyle.