Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May;62(5):588-594.
doi: 10.4187/respcare.05300. Epub 2017 Mar 21.

Extracorporeal Life Support as a Bridge to Lung Transplantation: A Single-Center Experience With an Emphasis on Health-Related Quality of Life

Annemieke Oude Lansink-Hartgring  1 , Wim van der Bij  2 , Erik A Verschuuren  2 , Michiel E Erasmus  3 , Adrianus J de Vries  4 , Karin M Vermeulen  5 , Walter M van den Bergh  6
Affiliations

Extracorporeal Life Support as a Bridge to Lung Transplantation: A Single-Center Experience With an Emphasis on Health-Related Quality of Life

Annemieke Oude Lansink-Hartgring et al. Respir Care. 2017 May.

Abstract

Background: Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) as a bridge to lung transplantation is increasingly used, but information on long-term outcome is scarce. We aim to summarize our experience with an emphasis on health-related quality of life. Secondary outcomes include ICU and hospital stay and pre- and post-transplant mortality.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of all adult subjects receiving ECLS as a bridge to lung transplantation from 2010 to 2014 was reviewed and compared with all adult subjects who underwent bilateral lung transplantation in the same period. For the ECLS group, the general health status was assessed with the use of the EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire.

Results: A total of 130 bilateral transplants were performed, 9 transplants were performed after ECLS therapy. Another 11 subjects died on the waiting list while receiving ECLS. Quality of life, at 12 months after surgery, from a subject's perspective was comparable in both groups with a median score of 80 on the visual analog scale. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) EuroQol Group 5-Dimension Self-Report Questionnaire 3L score from the societal perspective in the ECLS group was 0.73 (0.5-0.9). Median (IQR) ICU stay was 25 d (9-68 d) for the ECLS group versus 7 d (4-18 d) for the control group (P = .001), and in-hospital stay was 66 d (40-114 d) versus 42 d (29-62 d) (P = .004).

Conclusions: ECLS can be used as a bridge to lung transplantation. A significant number of subjects were not bridged successfully due to different reasons. Outcomes after successful transplantation after ECLS might be comparable with the general population undergoing lung transplantation in terms of quality of life, lung function, performance tests, and mortality, although ICU and hospital stay are longer.

Keywords: extracorporeal life support; health-related quality of life; lung transplantation; quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.

LinkOut - more resources