Alhussein M Khedr, Mohammed S Foula, Mohammed Alsagheer Alhewy, Abdelaziz Ahmed Abdelhafez, Ibrahim Hanbal Hanbal, Ehab Abd Elmoneim Ghazala, Ahmed Atef Khamis, Hassan Gado, Wael Abdo Abdo Abd-Elgawad, Abdullah El Sayed, Awad Ibrahim, Yasser Elghoneimy, Abdelhalim A Abdelmohsen
{"title":"Acute Vascular Complications of VA-ECMO in COVID-19 Patients. Does COVID-19 Affect the Outcome?","authors":"Alhussein M Khedr, Mohammed S Foula, Mohammed Alsagheer Alhewy, Abdelaziz Ahmed Abdelhafez, Ibrahim Hanbal Hanbal, Ehab Abd Elmoneim Ghazala, Ahmed Atef Khamis, Hassan Gado, Wael Abdo Abdo Abd-Elgawad, Abdullah El Sayed, Awad Ibrahim, Yasser Elghoneimy, Abdelhalim A Abdelmohsen","doi":"10.1177/15385744241276650","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) through the femoral artery and vein can lead to significant vascular complications. We retrospectively studied the acute vascular complications of Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID patients during the period from January 2020 to July 2023.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy-eight patients underwent VA-ECMO for various indications from January 2020 to July 2023. The studied patients had a mean age of 59.6 ± 6.9 years for non-COVID patients (38 patients), and 62.2 ± 7.6 years for COVID patients (40 patients), with a <i>P</i> = 0.268. In non-COVID patients, The baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. The primary indications for ECMO were cardiac diseases, followed by respiratory failure (78.9% vs 10.5%). Conversely, in COVID patients, respiratory failure due to COVID-19 infection was the main indication (45% vs 40%). The overall incidence of general complications, including cerebrovascular stroke, acute kidney injury, intracardiac thrombi, and wound infection, was comparable in both groups (31.6% vs 45%). The overall incidence of vascular complications in both groups was 33.3%. Ipsilateral acute lower limb ischemia occurred in 5.3% vs 10% of non-COVID and COVID patients, respectively. Thrombosis of the distal perfusion catheter (DPC) occurred in 10.5% vs 15%, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of patients required VA-ECMO due to associated respiratory failure. Patients undergoing VA-ECMO are at high risk of developing various vascular complications. COVID-19 significantly increases the risk of acute limb ischemia and distal perfusion catheter thrombosis in both upper and lower limbs. However, other VA-ECMO-related vascular complications are comparable between COVID-19 and non-COVID patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":94265,"journal":{"name":"Vascular and endovascular surgery","volume":" ","pages":"21-28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Vascular and endovascular surgery","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15385744241276650","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/8/28 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) through the femoral artery and vein can lead to significant vascular complications. We retrospectively studied the acute vascular complications of Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VA-ECMO) in COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID patients during the period from January 2020 to July 2023.
Results: Seventy-eight patients underwent VA-ECMO for various indications from January 2020 to July 2023. The studied patients had a mean age of 59.6 ± 6.9 years for non-COVID patients (38 patients), and 62.2 ± 7.6 years for COVID patients (40 patients), with a P = 0.268. In non-COVID patients, The baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. The primary indications for ECMO were cardiac diseases, followed by respiratory failure (78.9% vs 10.5%). Conversely, in COVID patients, respiratory failure due to COVID-19 infection was the main indication (45% vs 40%). The overall incidence of general complications, including cerebrovascular stroke, acute kidney injury, intracardiac thrombi, and wound infection, was comparable in both groups (31.6% vs 45%). The overall incidence of vascular complications in both groups was 33.3%. Ipsilateral acute lower limb ischemia occurred in 5.3% vs 10% of non-COVID and COVID patients, respectively. Thrombosis of the distal perfusion catheter (DPC) occurred in 10.5% vs 15%, respectively.
Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of patients required VA-ECMO due to associated respiratory failure. Patients undergoing VA-ECMO are at high risk of developing various vascular complications. COVID-19 significantly increases the risk of acute limb ischemia and distal perfusion catheter thrombosis in both upper and lower limbs. However, other VA-ECMO-related vascular complications are comparable between COVID-19 and non-COVID patients.