For the Sickest Heart Attack Patients, Outlook is Poorest Within 60 Days After Discharge

Medical advances have improved outcomes for heart attack patients, even for the sickest patients who undergo cardiogenic shock, a condition where the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs. Yet a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology reveals that over half of all heart attack patients either die or are rehospitalized within one year after being discharged. Among those who experienced cardiogenic shock the outlook is particularly poor within the first 60 days after initial treatment, with 34 percent of these patients either dying or returning to the hospital within that period. Study author Rashmee Shah, MD, assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, talks about what these findings mean, and what needs to happen next.