• Tengyi Cai, Samantha J Emery-Corbin, Conor McCafferty, Suelyn Van Den Helm, Natasha Letunica, Chantal Attard, Rebecca Barton, Stephen Horton, Steve Bottrell, Bradley Schultz, Graeme MacLaren, Roberto Chiletti, Derek Best, Amy Johansen, Fiona Newall, Warwick Butt, Yves d'Udekem, Laura F Dagley, Jumana M Yousef, Paul Monagle, and Vera Ignjatovic.
• Haematology Research, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2024 Nov 1; 25 (11): 101710251017-1025.

ObjectiveTo characterize surface-bound proteins and to measure the thickness of fibrin fibers bound to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circuits used in children.DesignSingle-center observational prospective study, April to November 2021.SettingPICU, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.PatientsPatients aged less than 18 years on venoarterial ECMO and without preexisting disorder.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsECMO circuits were collected from six patients. Circuit samples were collected from five different sites, and subsequently processed for proteomic and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. The concentration of proteins bound to ECMO circuit samples was measured using a bicinchoninic acid protein assay, whereas characterization of the bound proteome was performed using data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry. The Reactome Over-representation Pathway Analyses tool was used to identify functional pathways related to bound proteins. For the SEM studies, ECMO circuit samples were prepared and imaged, and the thickness of bound fibrin fibers was measured using the Fiji ImageJ software, version 1.53c ( https://imagej.net/software/fiji/ ). Protein binding to ECMO circuit samples and fibrin networks showed significant intra-circuit and interpatient variation. The median (range) total protein concentration was 19.0 (0-76.9) μg/mL, and the median total number of proteins was 2011 (1435-2777). A total of 933 proteins were commonly bound to ECMO circuit samples from all patients and were functionally involved in 212 pathways, with signal transduction, cell cycle, and metabolism of proteins being the top three pathway categories. The median intra-circuit fibrin fiber thickness was 0.20 (0.15-0.24) μm, whereas the median interpatient fibrin fiber thickness was 0.18 (0.15-0.21) μm.ConclusionsIn this report, we have characterized proteins and fiber fibrin thickness bound to ECMO circuits in six children. The techniques and approaches may be useful for investigating interactions between blood, coagulation, and the ECMO circuit and have the potential for circuit design.Copyright © 2024 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.

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