Objective: Mechanical cardiorespiratory support is occasionally
required before or after pediatric thoracic organ transplantation.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is the most commonly used
mechanical support technique in children. The goal of this study
was to examine the indications for initiation and outcomes after
peritransplant use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted of 65 patients who received
peritransplant extracorporeal membrane oxygenation between November
1994 and June 2000. The pretransplant group included 45 patients
(average age, 38 months) supported with extracorporeal membrane
oxygenation and listed for transplantation (31 heart, 8 lung,
and 6 heart-lung), and the post-transplant group included 20
patients (average age, 83 months) who required extracorporeal
membrane oxygenation after thoracic organ transplantation (12
heart, 6 lung,
and 2 heart-lung transplants). Hospital course
and outcomes were evaluated.
Results: With regard to pretransplant
extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, patients listed for heart
transplants were more likely to survive to transplantation than
were those listed
for lung or heart-lung transplants (12/31
[39%] vs 1/14 [7%],
P = .03). There was no difference
in long-term survival between heart transplant patients after extracorporeal
membrane oxygenation and those without extracorporeal membrane
oxygenation (12−month actuarial survival, 83% vs 73%;
P = .68).
Patients who survived for prolonged periods on extracorporeal
membrane oxygenation (>250 hours) typically received heart
transplants (7/8 [88%]). With regard
to post-transplant extracorporeal
membrane oxygenation, patients receiving
lung or heart-lung transplants had better
short-term outcomes than those receiving
heart transplants (63% survived to discharge vs 33%). All 3
patients with early graft dysfunction receiving lung transplants
survived to discharge.
Conclusions: Long-term outcomes among
those undergoing heart transplantation after support with an
extracorporeal membrane oxygenator are comparable with those
of patients not receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation can be a useful
post-transplant support device, particularly in patients undergoing lung transplants.