Experience and Results with VV-ECMO for Severe Acute Respiratory Failure

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains an unsolved problem in the intensive care unit (ICU), which can be treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). We summarized retrospectively collected data from an institutional experience with VV-ECMO in patients with severe acute respiratory failure and identified the clinical parameters associated with successful ECMO weaning. Among the 45 cases who received ECMO for pneumonia (n = 19), exacerbation of interstitial lung disease (n = 11), ARDS secondary to sepsis (n = 8), aspiration pneumonitis (n = 2), postoperative ARDS (n = 3), and others (n = 2), 21 (46.7%) were successfully weaned from ECMO. In a univariate analysis median platelet (PLT) count at ICU admission (162 vs. 97 × 10/L; p = 0.046) and pre-day 1 (118.5 vs. 62.5 × 10/L; p = 0.046) was higher in the ECMO-weaned group than those in the weaning failure group. Using a PLT level of 70 × 10/L, the odds ratio for successful ECMO weaning was 11.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34-87.16; p = 0.023) in the multivariate analysis. Bleeding complication rates were similar between the two groups. High PLT counts at ICU admission and the day immediately before initiating ECMO might play a key role in successful weaning of VV-ECMO for severe acute respiratory failure. Further studies should evaluate the proper target PLT level to enhance ECMO outcomes.