• Amédée Ego, Olivier Taton, Alexandre Brasseur, Yves Laurent, Fabio Silvio Taccone, and Romain Courcelle.
• Department of Intensive Care, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.
• Crit Care Explor. 2021 Jul 1; 3 (7): e0494.

ObjectivesVenovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has been largely used in patients with refractory acute respiratory distress syndrome due to coronavirus disease 2019. Few data on long-term pulmonary function among venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation survivors are available.DesignRetrospective, observational cohort.SettingTwo mixed medical-surgical tertiary (30 beds) and secondary (22 beds) ICUs.PatientsAll critically ill adult coronavirus disease 2019 survivors treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation between March 10, and April 30, 2020.Measurements And Main ResultsThe last available lung function and 6-minute walking tests, performed after a median of 178 days (ranges, 72-232 d) from ICU admission, were analyzed. Among the 32 coronavirus disease 2019 patients treated by venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during the study period, 11 (34%; median age 56 yr; median duration of mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy of 26 and 15 d, respectively) were successfully weaned and discharged home. Spirometry was performed in nine patients; the volumetric lung function was preserved, that is, median forced vital capacity was 83% of predicted value (51-99% of predicted value), and median forced expiratory volume in 1 second was 82% of predicted value (60-99% of predicted value). Also, the median residual volume and the lung capacity were 100% of predicted value (50-140% of predicted value) and 90% of predicted value (50-100% of predicted value); only the diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide and 6-minute walking test were decreased (58% of predicted value [37-95% of predicted value] and 468 meters (365-625 meters), corresponding to [63-90% of predicted value], respectively).ConclusionsAmong survivors from severe coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, preserved long-term volumetric lung function with decreased diffusion capacity of lung carbon monoxide was observed.Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

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