PAC usage in cardiogenic shock (CS) is being revitalized by recent positive analyses of large registry and administrative databases. To realize the full potential of pulmonary artery catheters (PAC), more research is urgently needed on the mechanisms translating hemodynamic information into optimal treatment and to better understand the heterogeneity of CS.

Hemodynamic profiling by PAC has promise to be a cornerstone towards individualized, mechanistically based treatment strategies for CS.

This study lends support to the utilization of PAC in CS by showing a ‘dose-dependent’ survival response based on the completeness of hemodynamic assessment by PAC and by demonstrating a consistent signal across SCAI stages and CS etiologies in a large multi-center registry.

However, the results are still hypothesis-generating as there were important methodological and statistical limitations.

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