Acute cardiac care & resuscitation
Medical Intensive Care Unit Overflow Into the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit: Insights From CCCTN Registry
Authors' conclusion
MICU overflow admissions constitute a meaningful proportion of the CICU population and present with more multisystem disease and experience higher hospital mortality compared with acute CV admissions
Study context
- Population
- CICU admissions in the Critical Care Cardiology Trials Network registry, 2018–2023
- Participants
- 19,912 CICU admissions
- Exposure
- Medical ICU (MICU) overflow vs acute cardiovascular (CV) illness admissions to the CICU
- MICU overflown = 923
- Outcome
- ICU and hospital mortality
Methodological detailsmulticentre
- Multicentre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
MICU overflow vs CVAdjusted odds ratio (95% CI)P value
ICU mortality
1.13(0.90–1.43)
P = 0.28Hospital mortality
1.80(1.48–2.19)
P < 0.001Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Presentation (SOFA score, respiratory failure, noncardiogenic shock) MICU overflow median 5 SOFA score · CV median 3 SOFA score
Respiratory failure
Noncardiogenic shock
| Outcome | Adjusted OR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICU mortality by CICU staffing model (subgroup)CICU team managed all admissions | 1.35 (1.02–1.80) | P = 0.04 | |
| ICU mortality by CICU staffing model (subgroup)Off-unit MICU teams managed overflow | 0.72 (0.47–1.11) | P = 0.14 | |
| 0.512Adjusted odds ratio (log scale) |
- Proportion of MICU overflow admissions
- 4.6% · 923
- Proportion of MICU overflow admissions — Range across centres
- 0% to 26%
- Presentation (SOFA score, respiratory failure, noncardiogenic shock): all P < 0.001
- ICU mortality by CICU staffing model (subgroup): P interaction = 0.02
Original publication
Medical Intensive Care Unit Overflow Into the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit: Insights From CCCTN Registry. JACC Adv. Published 20 August 2025. doi:10.
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it