Internal Medicine · Pulmonology · Cardiology · 16 Oct
ECMO hospital survivors spent over 45 weeks alive outside hospital in first year
A retrospective Hong Kong cohort study included 1,617 adults receiving ECMO, of whom 814 survived to hospital discharge. Survivors spent a median of more than 45 weeks alive and out of hospital during the year after ECMO initiation, but 29.5% had an unplanned readmission.
- Study included 1,617 adult ECMO recipients in Hong Kong.
- Hospital survivors spent median periods exceeding 45 weeks outside hospital.
- Unplanned readmission occurred in 29.5% of hospital survivors.
- Survivors attended a median of 13 outpatient visits.
A retrospective, multicentre, population-based cohort study examined one-year outcomes among 1,617 adults receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in Hong Kong public hospitals between January 2010 and August 2024. Participants received venovenous ECMO (VV-ECMO; n=635), venoarterial ECMO (VA-ECMO; n=616), or extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (eCPR; n=366). Median age was 56 years, and the primary outcome was time alive and out of hospital during the year from ECMO initiation.
Survival to hospital discharge was 66.5% for VV-ECMO, 46.9% for VA-ECMO, and 28.1% for eCPR; corresponding one-year survival rates were 64.6%, 45.1%, and 27.3%. Among the 814 hospital survivors, median time alive and out of hospital was 45.3 weeks for VV-ECMO, 45.4 weeks for VA-ECMO, and 46.3 weeks for eCPR. However, 29.5% experienced at least one unplanned readmission, and survivors attended a median of 13 outpatient clinic visits during follow-up.
The findings indicate sustained survival after discharge alongside substantial ongoing healthcare use, supporting attention to ECMO survivorship care. The out-of-hospital estimates apply specifically to hospital survivors, not all ECMO recipients. The retrospective design and restriction to Hong Kong public hospitals should also inform interpretation; these descriptive modality comparisons do not establish comparative treatment effectiveness.
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Critical Care: Weeks alive and out of hospital among adult ECMO survivors: a multicentre registry-based study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.