Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · May 2016
Thrombocytopenia and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in adults with acute respiratory failure: a cohort study.
The association between extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use and the development of thrombocytopenia is widely presumed yet weakly demonstrated. We hypothesized that longer duration of ECMO support would be independently associated with worsened thrombocytopenia. ⋯ Duration of ECMO is not associated with the development of thrombocytopenia. The severity of critical illness and platelet count at the time of cannulation predict the development of severe thrombocytopenia while receiving ECMO for respiratory failure. Future studies should validate these findings, especially in cohorts with more venoarterial ECMO patients, and should characterize the association between thrombocytopenia and bleeding events while on ECMO.
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Intensive care medicine · May 2016
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: evolving epidemiology and mortality.
The evolution of the epidemiology and mortality of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) remains unclear. The present study investigates the evolving epidemiology and mortality of various ECMO techniques in Germany over time, used for both severe respiratory and cardiac failure. ⋯ In a high-income country like Germany, the use of ECMO has been rapidly increasing since 2007 for both respiratory and cardiac support, with a recent plateau in vv-ECMO use. In-hospital mortality decreased with increasing ECMO utilization, but remains high, especially in older patients and in the first 48 h of use.