OBJECTIVE: The optimal duration of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in patients affected by postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCS) remains controversial. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of VA-ECMO duration on hospital outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of an international registry. SETTING: Multicenter study including 19 tertiary university hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Between January 2010 and March 2018, data on PCS patients receiving VA-ECMO were retrieved from the multicenter PC-ECMO registry. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were stratified according to the following different durations of VA-ECMO therapy: ≤three days, four-to-seven days, eight-to-ten days, and >ten days. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 725 patients, with a mean age of 62.9 ± 12.9 years, were included. The mean duration of VA-ECMO was 7.1 ± 6.3 days (range 0-39 d), and 39.4% of patients were supported for ≤three days, 29.1% for four-seven days, 15.3% for eight-ten days, and finally 20.7% for >ten days. A total of 391 (53.9%) patients were weaned from VA-ECMO successfully; however, 134 (34.3%) of those patients died before discharge. Multivariate logistic regression showed that prolonged duration of VA-ECMO therapy (four-seven days: adjusted rate 53.6%, odds ratio [OR] 0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.18-0.44; eight-ten days: adjusted rate 61.3%, OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.29-0.87; and >ten days: adjusted rate 59.3%, OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.31-0.81) was associated with lower risk of mortality compared with VA-ECMO lasting ≤three days (adjusted rate 78.3%). Patients requiring VA-ECMO therapy for eight-ten days (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.15-3.33) and >10 days (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.14-3.02) had significantly greater mortality compared with those on VA-ECMO for 4 to 7 days. CONCLUSIONS: PCS patients weaned from VA-ECMO after four-seven days of support had significantly less mortality compared with those with shorter or longer mechanical support.

Cardiac Surgery S Anna Hospital Catanzaro Italy

Cardiothoracic Department University Hospital of Udine Udine Italy

Department of Cardiac Surgery Sahlgrenska University Hospital Gothenburg Sweden

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Golden Jubilee National Hospital Glasgow United Kingdom

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Henri Mondor University Hospital AP HP Paris Est University Créteil France

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Münster University Hospital Münster Germany

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery University of Lund Lund Sweden

Department of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Vascular Surgery S Orsola Hospital University of Bologna Bologna Italy

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Germany

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery Ziekenhuis Oost Limburg Genk Belgium

Department of Intensive Care Medicine and Cardiac Surgery Glenfield Hospital University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust Leicester United Kingdom

Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery Department of Cardiac Surgery Karolinska Institutet Karolinska University Hospital Stockholm Sweden

Department of Thoracic and Cardio Vascular Surgery University Hospital Jean Minjoz Besançon France

Division of Cardiac Surgery Ospedali Riuniti Trieste Italy

Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Pontchaillou University Hospital Rennes France

Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery Robert Debré University Hospital Reims France

Hamburg University Heart Center Hamburg Germany

Heart and Lung Center Helsinki University Hospital Helsinki Finland; Research Unit of Surgery Anesthesiology and Critical Care Faculty of Medicine University of Oulu Oulu Finland

Heart and Lung Center Helsinki University Hospital Helsinki Finland; Research Unit of Surgery Anesthesiology and Critical Care Faculty of Medicine University of Oulu Oulu Finland; Department of Surgery University of Turku Turku Finland

Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Prince Sultan Cardiac Center Al Hassa Saudi Arabia

References provided by Crossref.org

Characteristics and Outcomes of Prolonged Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation After Cardiac Surgery: The Post-Cardiotomy Extracorporeal Life Support (PELS-1) Cohort Study

Patient and Management Variables Associated With Survival After Postcardiotomy Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Adults: The PELS-1 Multicenter Cohort Study