Association Between Shock Etiology and 5-Year Outcomes After Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Outcomes of patients requiring venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) vary greatly by etiology, but large studies that incorporate the spectrum of shock supported with ECMO are rare.

The purpose of this study was to describe the etiology-related outcome of patients with shock supported with peripheral VA-ECMO.

All consecutive adults with peripheral VA-ECMO between January 2015 and August 2018 at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital (Paris, France) were included in this retrospective observational study. The indication for VA-ECMO was cardiogenic shock. Rates of hospital death and neurological, renal, and pulmonary complications were evaluated according to etiology.

Among 1,253 patients, hospital and 5-year survival rates were, respectively, 73.3% and 57.3% for primary graft failure, 58.6% and 54.0% for drug overdose, 53.2% and 45.3% for dilated cardiomyopathy, 51.6% and 50.0% for arrhythmic storm, 46.8% and 38.3% for massive pulmonary embolism, 44.4% and 42.4% for sepsis-induced cardiogenic shock, 37.9% and 32.9% for fulminant myocarditis, 37.3% and 31.5% for acute myocardial infarction, 34.6% and 33.3% for postcardiotomy excluding primary graft failure, 25.7% and 22.8% for other/unknown etiology, and 11.1% and 0.0% for refractory vasoplegia shock. Renal failure requiring hemodialysis developed in 50.0%, neurological complications in 16.0%, and hydrostatic pulmonary edema in 9.0%.

Although the outcome differs depending on etiology, this difference is related more to the severity of the situation associated with the cause rather than the cause of the shock per se. Survival to 5 years varied by cause, which may reflect the natural course of the chronic disease and illustrates the need for long-term follow-up.