Patients in cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are referred to a tertiary care center for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of the infarct related artery in this multicenter, ran-domized clinical trial. After checking in- and exclusion criteria computerized randomization is performed to either PCI plus intraaortic balloon pump (IABP) insertion and medical treatment or PCI plus medical treatment only. Intensive care treatment is performed according to standard care including hemodynamic monitoring using a pulmonary artery catheter for optimal volume status adaptation and inotropic drug administration.