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Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflicts of interest: AC reports receiving grant support and lecture fees from Maquet and Baxter. All other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest, no funding or financial support. Ethical standards: This paper was written in accordance to ethical guidelines.

The second element of the first author's name was misinterpreted as a given name, whereas in fact it is part of his family name. The correct version of his name for indexing purposes is therefore M. Pineton de Chambrun (not M. P. de Chambrun).

Purpose: To describe the characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors associated with poor outcome of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO)-treated patients with refractory shock post-cardiac arrest., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data collected prospectively (March 2007-January 2015) in a 26-bed tertiary hospital intensive care unit. All patients implanted with VA-ECMO for refractory cardiogenic shock after successful resuscitation from cardiac arrest were included. Refractory cardiac arrest patients, given VA-ECMO under cardiopulmonary resuscitation, were excluded., Results: Ninety-four patients received VA-ECMO for refractory shock post-cardiac arrest. Their hospital and 12-month survival rates were 28 and 27 %, respectively. All 1-year survivors were cerebral performance category 1. Multivariable analysis retained INR >2.4 (OR 4.9; 95 % CI 1.4-17.2), admission SOFA score >14 (OR 5.3; 95 % CI 1.7-16.5), and shockable rhythm (OR 0.3; 95 % CI 0.1-0.9) as independent predictors of hospital mortality, but not SAPS II, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest score, or other cardiac arrest variables. Only 10 % of patients with an admission SOFA score >14 survived, whereas 50 % of those with scores ≤14 were alive at 1 year. Restricting the analysis to the 67 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of coronary cause yielded similar results., Conclusion: Among 94 patients implanted with VA-ECMO for refractory cardiogenic shock post-cardiac arrest resuscitation, the 24 (27 %) 1-year survivors had good neurological outcomes, but survival was significantly better for patients with admission SOFA scores <14, shockable rhythm, and INR ≤2.4. VA-ECMO might be considered a rescue therapy for patients with refractory cardiogenic shock post-cardiac arrest resuscitation.

Purpose: This study was designed to optimize the latest generation venovenous (vv)-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-circuit configuration and settings based on the evaluation of blood oxygenation and CO2 removal determinants in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) on ultraprotective mechanical ventilation., Methods: Blood gases and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated after changing one of three ECMO settings, namely, circuit blood flow, FiO(2ECMO) (fraction of inspired oxygen in circuit), or sweep gas flow ventilating the membrane, while leaving the other two parameters at their maximum setting., Results: Ten mechanically ventilated ARDS patients (mean age 44 ± 16 years; 6 males; mean hemoglobin 8.0 ± 1.8 g/dL) on ECMO for a mean of 9.0 ± 3.8 days) receiving femoro-jugular vv-ECMO were evaluated. vv-ECMO blood flow and FiO(2ECMO) determined arterial oxygenation. Decreasing the ECMO flow from its baseline maximum value (5.8 ± 0.8 L/min) to 40% less (2.4 ± 0.3 L/min) significantly decreased mean PaO2 (arterial oxygen tension; 88 ± 24 to 45 ± 9 mm Hg; p < 0.001) and SaO2 (oxygen saturation; 97 ± 2 to 82 ± 10%; p < 0.001). When the ECMO flow/cardiac output was >60%, SaO2 was always >90%. Alternatively, the rate of sweep gas flow through the membrane lung determined blood decarboxylation, while PaCO2 (arterial carbon dioxide tension) was unaffected when the ECMO blood flow and FiO(2ECMO) were reduced to <2.5 L/min and 40%, respectively. In three additional patients evaluated before and after red blood cell transfusion, O2 delivery increased after transfusion, allowing lower ECMO flows to reach adequate SaO2., Conclusions: For severe ARDS patients receiving femoro-jugular vv-ECMO, blood flow was the main determinant of arterial oxygenation, while CO2 elimination depended on sweep gas flow through the oxygenator. An ECMO flow/cardiac output >60% was constantly associated with adequate blood oxygenation and oxygen transport and delivery.

Objective: To assess the predictive capacity for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) of serum procalcitonin levels before and on the day it is suspected., Design and Setting: Single-center observational study in the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital., Patients and Participants: Consecutive patients whose serum procalcitonin levels were available on the day that VAP was clinically suspected (day 1) and at some time within the preceding 5 days ("before")., Measurements and Results: Serum procalcitonin levels were determined on day 1 and "before". Among the 73 suspected episodes VAP was confirmed by quantitative bronchoalveolar lavage cultures in 32 and refuted in 41. Respective median "before" procalcitonin levels were 1.89 ng/ml (interquartile range 0.18-6.01) and 2.14 (0.76-5.75) in patients with and without VAP, but their respective median day-1 procalcitonin levels did not differ: 1.07 ng/ml (0.39-6.57) vs. 1.40 (0.67-3.39). On day 1 a 0.5 ng/ml procalcitonin threshold had 72% sensitivity but only 24% specificity for diagnosing VAP. Between "before" and day 1, procalcitonin increased in 41% and 15% of patients with and without VAP, respectively. Thus a procalcitonin rise on day 1, compared to its "before" level, had 41% sensitivity and 85% specificity for diagnosing VAP, with respective positive and negative predictive values of 68% and 65%., Conclusions: Crude values and procalcitonin rise had poor diagnostic value for VAP in this particular setting and thus should not be used to initiate antibiotics when VAP is clinically suspected.