Role of Prophylactic Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump in High-Risk Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) has been shown to support patients who are at high risk for percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) or becoming hemodynamically unstable during PCI, but the longer term outcomes of these strategies are unknown. This study investigated the outcomes of high-risk patients who received a prophylactic IABP (P-IABP) versus patients who required rescue IABP (R-IABP) because of intraprocedural complications. Clinical outcomes of 68 consecutive patients (69 procedures) who underwent high-risk PCI with P-IABP support were compared with those of 46 patients who required R-IABP. Patients who presented with cardiogenic shock or acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and those who were on mechanical ventilators were excluded. Clinical baseline characteristics were similar between groups except for more diabetics and patients with hypercholesterolemia in the P-IABP group. The procedural success was higher in the P-IABP group, with lower in-hospital mortality and major complications, than in the R-IABP group. At 6 months, the mortality and major adverse cardiac event rates were lower in the P-IABP group (8% vs 29%, p