Corrigan Minehan Heart Center
Cardiogenic Shock Team
Contact Us
Cardiogenic Shock Team
Corrigan Minehan Heart Center
55 Fruit Street
Boston,
MA
02114
Phone: 617-726-2066
Email: mghheartcenter@partners.org
The Mass General Cardiogenic Shock Team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist with the immediate evaluation and management of cardiogenic shock patients. Physicians should call 617-726-2066 to speak with the Cardiogenic Shock team member on call.
Leading Expertise in Treating Cardiogenic Shock
Cardiogenic shock is a condition in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. It most commonly occurs soon after a massive heart attack, but it can also occur after heart surgery or with an acute illness such as cardiomyopathy, which is a weakening of the heart muscle. Occasionally, patients with chronic heart failure will deteriorate to cardiogenic shock.
Patients with cardiogenic shock must be treated promptly in order to restore perfusion, the process of delivering blood to the body’s organs, and prevent further deterioration so that the heart can recover. At Massachusetts General Hospital, mechanical circulatory support devices are used when necessary to either temporarily support the heart as it recovers, or as a bridge to long-term therapies, which may include heart transplantation. Timely intervention with mechanical support in appropriate cardiogenic shock patients has been shown to improve patient outcomes.
Request an Evaluation for Cardiogenic Shock
The Mass General Cardiogenic Shock Team brings together the expertise of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to rapidly intervene on patients with severe cardiogenic shock. With one phone call, a multidisciplinary team of leading surgical, interventional and medical clinicians quickly gathers information about the patient to recommend the best therapy possible.
The Mass General Cardiogenic Shock Team should be contacted for patients with:
- Sustained hypotension (systolic blood pressure [BP] less than 90 mm Hg lasting more than 30 minutes)
- Evidence of tissue hypoperfusion: cold periphery (extremities colder than core), oliguria (< 30 mL/h) or both
- Inadequate left ventricular (LV) filling pressure
We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist with the immediate evaluation and management of cardiogenic shock patients. Physicians should call 617-726-2066 to speak with the team member on call.
Advanced Options to Treat Cardiogenic Shock
We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist with the immediate evaluation and management of cardiogenic shock patients. Physicians should call 617-726-2066 to speak with the team member on call.
- Impella®: A catheter-based pump is inserted through a patient’s peripheral artery, which can be used without opening a patient’s chest. Devices are available that can support either the right or left side of the heart
- CentriMag® Ventricular Assist System: A machine located outside the patient’s body facilitates blood flow through tubes placed surgically in a patient’s large arteries and veins that connect to the pumping chamber of the heart. CentriMag can support either the right or left sides of the heart, or both, until it is determined that the patient’s heart will either recover or need further support with a long-term ventricular assist device (VAD)
- Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator Support (ECMO): Patients experiencing cardiogenic shock may also need help with lung support until the heart and lungs recover or a VAD is recommended. When an oxygenator is added to a device containing a pump such as the CentriMag, both the patient’s heart and lungs can be mechanically supported. Because of its ease and success of use, ECMO is often the device of first choice used in cardiogenic shock at Mass General
Mass General has been designated as an ECMO Center of Excellence based on our extensive experience and successful outcomes in a variety of conditions leading to cardiogenic shock.
The Cardiogenic Shock Team
The Cardiogenic Shock features an expert group of transplant cardiologists and surgeons.
-
- Chair of the Cardiology Fellowship Selection Committee
-
- Section Head, Heart Failure
- Director, Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Laboratory
- Medical Director, Cardiac Transplantation Program
-
- Director, MGH Transplant Center
- Director, MGH Center for Transplantation Sciences
- Malcolm J. Dorman, MD Chair in Cardiac Transplantation, Massachusetts General Hospital
-
Christopher Newton-Cheh, MD, MPH
- Heart failure cardiologist
-
- Chief, Division of Cardiac Surgery
- Director, Corrigan Minehan Heart Center
- Co-director, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program
Mass General Receives Highest Possible Rating for Thoracic Surgery
Mass General has earned a distinguished three-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes.
Second Opinions
Our physicians welcome second opinion appointments to review cases and proposed lines of treatment.
Call the Cardiogenic Shock Team
Call for an urgent evaluation request. Team members are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.