Assessing the clinical impact of cardiac intensivists in cardiac intensivecare units: results from the RESCUE registry

The presence of dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) physicians is associated with reduced ICU mortality. However, the information available on the role of cardiac intensivists in cardiac ICUs (CICUs) is limited. Therefore, we investigated the association of cardiac intensivist–directed care with clinical outcomes in adult patients admitted to the CICU.

In this retrospective study, we extracted data from the SMART-RESCUE registry, a multicenter, retrospective, and prospective registry of patients presenting with cardiogenic shock. Overall, 1,247 patients with CS were enrolled, between January 2014 and December 2018, from 12 tertiary centers in Korea. The patients were categorized into two groups based on the involvement of a cardiac intensivist in their care. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality rate.

The all-cause mortality rate was 33.6%. The in-hospital mortality rate was lower (25.4%) in the cardiac intensivist group than in the non-cardiac intensivist group (40.1%). Cardiac mortality rates were 20.5% and 35.4% in the cardiac intensivist and non-cardiac intensivist groups, respectively. In patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, the mortality rate at centers with cardiac intensivists was 38.0%, whereas that at centers without cardiac intensivists was 62.2%. The dopamine use was lower, norepinephrine use was higher, and vasoactive-inotropic score was lower in the cardiac intensivist group than in the non-cardiac intensivist group.

Involvement of a cardiac intensivist in CICU patient care was associated with a reduction in in-hospital mortality rate and the administration of a low dose of vasopressors and inotropes according to the cardiogenic shock guidelines.