Objectives: To assess long-term survival in adult patients with severe acute lung failure receiving veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and explore risk factors for long-term mortality.
Design: Single-center prospective cohort study.
Setting: University Hospital Regensburg, Germany.
Patients: All primary cases supported with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation from 2007 to 2016 (n = 553).
Interventions: None.
Measurements and main results: Patients were followed until January 2017. Long-term survival and predictors of long-term mortality were assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival analyses and Cox proportional hazards modeling, respectively. Two hundred eighty-six patients (52%) died during follow-up (mean follow-up 4.8 yr). Two hundred seventeen patients (39%) died during hospitalization, whereas another 69 patients (12%) died during later follow-up. Among hospital survivors, the 1-month, 3-month, 1-year, and 5-year survival rates were 99%, 95%, 86%, and 76%, respectively. Higher age, immunocompromised status, and higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores were associated with long-term mortality, whereas patients with out-of-center cannulation showed improved long-term survival. Due to nonproportional hazards over time, the analysis was repeated for hospital survivors only (n = 336). Only age and immunocompromised state remained significant predictors of late mortality among hospital survivors. Lower Glasgow Outcome Scale at hospital discharge and the University Hospital Regensburg pre-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation score for predicting hospital mortality in veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients before extracorporeal membrane oxygenation initiation were associated with late mortality in hospital survivors (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Whereas acute illness factors may be important in prediction of hospital outcomes in veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients, they do not determine late mortality in hospital survivors. Preexisting morbidity and functional ability at hospital discharge may be important determinants of long-term survival in veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation patients.