Clinical Outcomes of Early Extubation Strategy in Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation as a Bridge to Heart Transplantation
10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e346
- Author:
Taeho YOUN
1
;
Darae KIM
;
Taek Kyu PARK
;
Yang Hyun CHO
;
Su Hyun CHO
;
Ji Yeon CHOI
;
Kiick SUNG
;
Jin-Oh CHOI
;
Eun-Seok JEON
;
Jeong Hoon YANG
Author Information
1. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2020;35(42):e346-
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Background:Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) might be considered a bridge therapy in patients who are expected to have short waiting times for heart transplantation. We investigated the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent VA-ECMO as a bridge to heart transplantation and whether the deployment of an early extubation ECMO strategy is beneficial.
Methods:Between November 2006 and December 2018, we studied 102 patients who received VA-ECMO as a bridge to heart transplantation. We classified these patients into an early extubation ECMO group (n = 24) and a deferred extubation ECMO group (n = 78) based on the length of the intubated period on VA-ECMO (≤ 48 hours or > 48 hours). The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality.
Results:The median duration of early extubation VA-ECMO was 10.0 (4.3–17.3) days.The most common cause for patients to be put on ECMO was dilated cardiomyopathy (65.7%) followed by ischemic cardiomyopathy (11.8%). In-hospital mortality rates for the deferred extubation and early extubation groups, respectively, were 24.4% and 8.3% (P = 0.147). During the study period, in the deferred extubation group, 60 (76.9%) underwent transplantation, while 22 (91.7%) underwent transplantation in the early extubation group.Delirium occurred in 83.3% and 33.3% of patients from the deferred extubation and early extubation groups (P < 0.001) and microbiologically confirmed infection was identified in 64.1% and 41.7% of patients from the two groups (P = 0.051), respectively.
Conclusion:VA-ECMO as a bridge therapy seems to be feasible for deployment in patients with a short waiting time for heart transplantation. Deployment of the early extubation ECMO strategy was associated with reductions in delirium and infection in this population.
