Analysis Of The Factors Affecting The Effect Of The Treatment By ECMO In The Patients With Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Objective: This study aims at analyzing the clinical features of the patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who were treated by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in order to look for the factors which affected the efficacy of the treatment of the patients with ARDS by ECMO.Methods: From November 2008 to September 2010, a retrospective review of severe ARDS patients who had ever been treated by ECMO in the medical intensive care unit of Strasbourg New Civil Hospital was carried out. The patients treated by ECMO were divided into survival group and death group, according to the outcome after 28-day-treatment. We compared the clinical features of the two groups when being transferred to ICU, before and after ECMO treatment, in order to assess the factors which affected the effect of ECMO treatment of severe ARDS patients.Results: Twenty-five patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 15 patients survived, 10 died. The results showed that the average age of the survival group is lower than that of the death group(49.8±10.5 vs 59.9±11.5, P=0.041), the proportion of patients with Influenza A (H1N1) of the survival group(χ~2=3.896,P=0.048) was higher than that of the death group. In addition, mechanical ventilation duration before ECMO treatment for the survival group was shorter than that for the death group (57.8±8.7 vs 68.3±13.7, P=0.013).Preliminary Conclusions:The age, pre-ECMO ventilation duration and the cause of ARDS are the important factors affecting the efficacy of ECMO treatment in the patients with severe ARDS.