• Giovanni Cianchi, Chiara Lazzeri, Manuela Bonizzoli, Stefano Batacchi, Morena Cozzolino, Marco Ciapetti, Pasquale Bernardo, Andrea Franci, Marco Chiostri, and Adriano Peris.
• Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit and Regional ECMO Referral Center, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: giovannicianchi@yahoo.it.
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2018 Jun 1; 32 (3): 1142-1150.

ObjectiveMany extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) centers for respiratory failure and ECMO mobile teams were instituted during the H1N1 pandemic. Data on transportation are scarce and heterogeneous. The authors therefore described the experience of their referral ECMO center for severe respiratory failure from 2009 to 2016 and gave a comprehensive report of transfers performed by their mobile ECMO team.DesignObservational retrospective study.SettingAn intensive care unit (ECMO referral center) in a teaching hospital.ParticipantsOne hundred and sixty consecutive patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome refractory to conventional treatment requiring veno-venous (VV)-ECMO.InterventionVV-ECMO implantation.Measurements And Main ResultsIn this series, the transferred patients on ECMO averaged 57%, with annual percentages ranging from 28% to 90% over the years. No adverse event was observed during transportation. A progressive increase in simplified acute physiology score (SAPS) values and in the use of norepinephrine were detectable (p = 0.048 and p = 0.037, respectively) as well as in neuromuscular blockers use (p = 0.004). Dual-lumen cannule were more frequently used in recent years (p < 0.001). The overall mortality rate was 40% (64/160), with no differences over the years or between transferred and local patients. Body mass index and pre-ECMO neuromuscular blockers and SAPS were independent predictors for early mortality (when adjusted for age).ConclusionsThe workload of the authors' referral center and mobile team did not change, documenting that severe respiratory failure requiring VV-ECMO support is still a clinical need. No difference in mortality rate was detectable during this period or between transferred and local patients who were managed by the same team.Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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