Improving survival rates among patients who experience cardiogenic shock, a life-threatening side-effect to a heart attack, presented an opportunity for five major health systems in metro Detroit to collaborate. Together, cardiologists innovated a best practice that increased survival rates in cardiogenic shock patients. Among the hospitals participating in this initiative, a retrospective analysis of 30 patients having a heart attack and showing signs of cardiogenic shock demonstrated an 80 percent survival rate, compared to 50 percent with traditional treatment.

"This unprecedented effort shows the powerful advances we can make to save lives by working together," said lead investigator William W. O’Neill, M.D., director of the Center for Structural Heart Disease at Henry Ford Hospital.

A massive heart attack suppresses the heart’s pumping function, depriving vital organs of blood flow and sending the patient into shock. The initiative began in July 2016 as doctors in the participating hospitals studied the approach of supporting the circulatory system quickly. To support the circulatory system, the Impella® heart pump is inserted through the femoral artery before the cause of the heart attack is treated with traditional procedures to open the blocked artery. "There is no question in our minds that early circulatory support is critical to improve the chance of a successful outcome in these critically ill patients," said Simon Dixon, M.D., chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.