This study examines the effects of abciximab as adjunctive therapy in primary percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by cardiogenic shock. Abciximab improves the outcome of primary PTCA for AMI, but its efficacy in cardiogenic shock remains unknown. Case report forms were completed in-hospital and follow-up was obtained by telephone, outpatient visit, and review of hospital readmission records. A total of 113 patients with cardiogenic shock from AMI were included. All underwent emergency PTCA during which abciximab was administered to 54 patients (48%). The 2 groups of patients who received and did not receive abciximab were similar at baseline. Coronary stents were implanted slightly more often in the abciximab group (59% vs 42%; p = 0.1). A significantly improved final TIMI flow, less no-reflow, and a decrease in vessel residual diameter stenosis occurred in the abciximab group. At 30-day follow-up, the composite event rate of death, myocardial reinfarction, and target vessel revascularization was better in the abciximab group (31% vs 63%; p = 0.002). The combination of abciximab and stents was synergistic and resulted in improvement of all components of the composite end point beyond that seen with each therapy alone. Thus, abciximab therapy improves the 30-day outcome of primary PTCA in cardiogenic shock, especially when combined with coronary stenting.