Six-month outcomes following venovenous ECMO for severe COVID-19 and viral pneumonitis: 2019-2020 Australian experience

Aidan J C Burrell; Ary Serpa Neto; Andrew Udy; Vincent Pellegrino; Carol Hodgson

doi:10.51893/2022.1.OA10

Six-month outcomes following venovenous ECMO for severe COVID-19 and viral pneumonitis: 2019-2020 Australian experience

Crit Care Resusc. 2023 Oct 18;24(1):83-86. doi: 10.51893/2022.1.OA10. eCollection 2022 Mar 7.

Authors

Aidan J C Burrell^{1

2}, Ary Serpa Neto¹, Andrew Udy^{1

2}, Vincent Pellegrino², Carol Hodgson^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Department of Intensive Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the characteristics, treatments and 6-month functional outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) versus non-COVID-19 viral pneumonitis supported by venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). Design: Prospective, observational cohort study in seven intensive care units (ICUs) across Australia. Participants: Patients admitted to participating ICUs with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 or viral pneumonitis requiring VV-ECMO. Results: From 30 March 2019 to 31 December 2020, 13 patients were initiated on VV-ECMO for COVID-19 and 23 were initiated for non-COVID-19 viral pneumonitis. Patients with COVID-19 were older and had a longer duration from intubation to ECMO initiation, but had similar illness severity and APACHE IV scores at the time of initiation. Overall disability, health-related quality of life, and mortality were similar, but ICU and hospital length of stay were significantly longer in patients with COVID-19. Conclusions: Six-month functional outcomes and mortality were similar between COVID-19 and viral pneumonitis patients treated with VV-ECMO. However, length of stay was longer in COVID-19 patients, which may have resource implications.