• Nicolò Patroniti, Alberto Zangrillo, Federico Pappalardo, Adriano Peris, Giovanni Cianchi, Antonio Braschi, Giorgio A Iotti, Antonio Arcadipane, Giovanna Panarello, V Marco Ranieri, Pierpaolo Terragni, Massimo Antonelli, Luciano Gattinoni, Fabrizio Oleari, and Antonio Pesenti.
• Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Milan-Bicocca, Via Pergolesi 33, 20052 Monza, Italy. nicolo.patroniti@unimib.it
• Intensive Care Med. 2011 Sep 1; 37 (9): 144714571447-57.

PurposeIn view of the expected 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, the Italian Health Authorities set up a national referral network of selected intensive care units (ICU) able to provide advanced respiratory care up to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We describe the organization and results of the network, known as ECMOnet.MethodsThe network consisted of 14 ICUs with ECMO capability and a national call center. The network was set up to centralize all severe patients to the ECMOnet centers assuring safe transfer. An ad hoc committee defined criteria for both patient transfer and ECMO institutions.ResultsBetween August 2009 and March 2010, 153 critically ill patients (53% referred from other hospitals) were admitted to the ECMOnet ICU with suspected H1N1. Sixty patients (48 of the referred patients, 49 with confirmed H1N1 diagnosis) received ECMO according to ECMOnet criteria. All referred patients were successfully transferred to the ECMOnet centers; 28 were transferred while on ECMO. Survival to hospital discharge in patients receiving ECMO was 68%. Survival of patients receiving ECMO within 7 days from the onset of mechanical ventilation was 77%. The length of mechanical ventilation prior to ECMO was an independent predictor of mortality.ConclusionsA network organization based on preemptive patient centralization allowed a high survival rate and provided effective and safe referral of patients with severe H1N1-suspected ARDS.

23 keywords...

hide…