469. ACS Guidelines Question #7 with Dr. Venu Menon

This episode is part of our comprehensive Decipher the Guidelines Series covering the 2025 ACC/AHA/ACEP/NAEMSP/SCAI Guideline for the Management of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes.

The following question refers to Section 8.2 of the 2025 ACS Guidelines.

The question is asked by Johns Hopkins pre-medical undergraduate and CardioNerds Academy Intern Joshua Khorsandi, answered first by University of Wisconsin cardiology fellow and member of the CardioNerds Interventional Cardiology Council Dr. Shikha Jha, and then by expert faculty Dr. Venu Menon.

Dr. Menon is the Section Head of Clinical Cardiology, Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, and Program Director of Cardiology Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. He is the Mehdi Razavi Endowed Chair and Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He was also a member of the 2025 ACS Guidelines writing committee.

Question #7

A 72-year-old gentleman with past medical history significant for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and tobacco use is brought to the ED with chief complaint of chest tightness. He is found to have ST elevations in leads V1 to V4 and is taken for emergency coronary angiography, which demonstrates 99% proximal LAD occlusion. During the procedure, he becomes hypotensive (BP 74/55 mm Hg) and tachycardic (HR 122 bpm). Norepinephrine is initiated. Right heart catheterization demonstrates elevated left and right-sided filling pressures with low cardiac index. Besides immediate revascularization, which of the following would be the best next step?

A

Cannulate for VA-ECMO

B

Placement of microaxial intravascular flow pump

C

Administration of intravenous fluid