BACKGROUND: Cardiogenic shock (CS) can be complicated by severe valvular heart disease (VHD). We analyzed cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) admissions according to VHD status. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network is a multicenter network of tertiary CICUs. Centers contributed data from consecutive admissions during 2-month annual snapshots from 2017-2023. CS admissions were classified as having CS attributed to VHD, CS with noncausative VHD or CS without severe VHD. Demographics and therapies were compared. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for in-hospital mortality were calculated. We analyzed 5242 admissions with CS (4.1% attributed to VHD, 18.8% with noncausative VHD, 77.1% without severe VHD). Mitral regurgitation (32.1%) and aortic stenosis (27.9%) were the most common pathologies in CS attributed to VHD. Admissions with CS attributed to VHD more commonly had LVEF ≥ 40% on admission (present in 62.8%, 22.6% and 15.1%, respectively
P <
0.002). Valve intervention was performed in 32.1% of those with CS attributed to VHD. Unadjusted in-hospital mortality in admissions with CS attributed to VHD was 40.0%, compared to 33.4% and 30.3% in the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: VHD is the underlying cause of CS in a minority of CICU admissions but is associated with high in-hospital mortality rates.