BackgroundSeptic patients with cardiac impairment are with high mortality. Afterload-related cardiac performance (ACP), as a new tool for diagnostic septic cardiomyopathy (SCM), still needs to be evaluated its impact on the prognosis for patients with septic shock. MethodsIn this observational retrospective study, 119 patients with septic shock undertaken PiCCO monitoring were evaluated for the effects of ACP on 7-day mortality, ICU mortality and hospital mortality. The ability of ACP, cardiac index (CI) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) to discriminate between survivors and non-survivors was tested by comparing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) analysis. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed to assess the associations of ACP with 7-day mortality. Curve estimation was used to describe the relationship between hazard ratio (HR) of death and ACP.ResultsACP assessed at 12 hours (ACP12h) after septic shock [AUROC 0.86 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.93), P < 0.001] demonstrated significantly greater discrimination for 7-day mortality than CI [AUROC 0.67 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.78), P = 0.001 ] and LVEF [AUROC 0.53 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.64), P = 0.58] (all P < 0.001). Similarly, when adjusted with gender, APACHEII score, VIS and MAP as possible confounders, ACP12h still outperformed both CI12h and LVEF for discrimination of 7-day mortality (both P < 0.001). The superior discriminatory performance of ACP12h over both CI12h and LVEF was further maintained when considering ICU mortality and hospital mortality when considered in isolation or adjusted with the baseline prediction. Compared with normal ACP, HR for slight, moderate and severe impairment were 4.84 (1.96 to 11.96), 12.13 (4.83 to 30.43) and 32.70 (7.76 to 137.86), respectively. After adjustment for risk factor, decrease ACP still associated with increasing 7-day mortality (P = 0.001). Exponential relationship was observed between ACP12h and HR of 7-day death.ConclusionsOur results suggested that ACP may serve as a new tool for diagnosing SCM. In addition, the assessment of ACP at 12 hours after septic shock in ICU significantly improves 7-day mortality, ICU mortality and hospital mortality predictions when compared to CI and LVEF.