Cardiology

Answer 3 PCWP > 18 mm Hg; cardiac index < 2.2. Patients with cardiogenic shock due to MI have low cardiac output due to left ventricular dysfunction, resulting in a low cardiac index. The left ventricle’s inability to pump forward causes pooling of blood in the pulmonary circulation, resulting in high PCWP. Answer A is not consistent with shock, answer B represents congestive heart failure without shock, and answer C correlates with hypovolemic shock.4 REFERENCES 4. Forrester JS, Diamond G, Chatterjee K, Swan HJ. Medical therapy of acute myocardial infarction by application of hemodynamic subsets (first of two parts). N Engl J Med 1976;295:1356-62. Click here to return to the questions

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