title: Spontaneously Breathing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support Provides the Optimal Bridge to Lung Transplantation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is being increasingly used as a bridge to lung transplantation. Small, single-institution series have described increased success using ECMO in spontaneously breathing patients compared with patients on ECMO with mechanical ventilation, but this strategy has not been evaluated on a large scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the United Network for Organ Sharing database, all adult patients undergoing isolated lung transplantation from May 2005 through September 2013 were identified. Patients were categorized by their type of pretransplant support: no support, ECMO only, invasive mechanical ventilation (iMV) only, and ECMO + iMV. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with log-rank testing was performed to compare survival based on type of preoperative support. A Cox regression model was used to determine whether type of preoperative support was independently associated with survival, using previously established predictors of survival as covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 12,403 primary adult pulmonary transplantations were included in this analysis. Sixty-five patients (0.52%) were on ECMO only, 612 (4.93%) required only iMV, 119 (0.96%) were on ECMO + iMV, and the remaining 11,607 (94.6%) required no invasive support before transplantation. One-year survival was decreased in all patients requiring support, regardless of type. However, mid-term survival was similar between patients on ECMO alone and those not on support but significantly worse with patients requiring iMV only or ECMO + iMV. In multivariable analysis, ECMO + iMV and iMV alone were independently associated with decreased survival compared with nonsupport patients, whereas ECMO alone was not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with worsening pulmonary disease awaiting lung transplantation, those supported via ECMO with spontaneous breathing demonstrated improved survival compared with other bridging strategies.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Matthew Adam
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schechter
authors.forename: Asvin M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ganapathi
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Englum
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Speicher
authors.forename: Mani A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Daneshmand
authors.forename: R Duane
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Matthew G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hartwig
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012119:Respiration; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014850:Waiting Lists