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Background: Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VV-ECMO) is an efficient ventilatory support in patients with refractory Covid-19-related Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), however the duration of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) before ECMO initiation as a contraindication is still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of prolonged IMV prior to VV-ECMO in patients suffering from refractory Covid-19-related ARDS. Methods: This single-center retrospective study included all patients treated with VV-ECMO for refractory Covid-19-related ARDS between January 1, 2020 and May 31, 2022. The impact of IMV duration was investigated by comparing patients on VV-ECMO during the 7 days (and 10 days) following IMV with those assisted after 7 days (and 10 days). The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Results: Sixty-four patients were hospitalized in the ICU for Covid-19-related refractory ARDS requiring VV-ECMO. Global in-hospital mortality was 55 %. Median duration of IMV was 4 [2; 8] days before VV-ECMO initiation. There was no significant difference in in-hospital mortality between patients assisted with IMV pre-VV-ECMO for a duration of ≤7 days (≤10 days) and those assisted after 7 days (and 10 days) ((p = 0.59 and p = 0.45). Conclusion: This study suggests that patients assisted with VV-ECMO after prolonged IMV had the same prognosis than those assisted earlier in refractory Covid-19-related ARDS. Therefore, prolonged mechanical ventilation of more than 7–10 days should not contraindicate VV-ECMO support. An individual approach is necessary to balance the risks and benefits of ECMO in this population.

Abstract The aim of this study was to compare the prognosis of patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant 501Y.V2 to that of patients with ARF due to the original strain. This retrospective matched cohort study included all consecutive patients who were hospitalized for ARF due to SARS-CoV-2 in Reunion Island University Hospital between March 2020 and March 2021. Twenty-eight in hospital mortality was evaluated before and after matching. A total of 218 patients with ARF due to SARS-CoV-2 were enrolled in the study. Of these, 83 (38.1%) were infected with the 501Y.V2 variant. During intensive care unit stay, 104 (47.7%) patients received invasive mechanical ventilation and 20 (9.2%) patients were supported by venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Patients infected with the 501Y.V2 variant were younger (58 [51–68] vs. 67 [56–74] years old, P = 0.003), had less hypertension (54.2% vs 68.1%, P = 0.04), and had less chronic kidney disease (13.3% vs. 31.9%, P = 0.002) than patients infected with the original strain. After controlling for confounding variables (62 matched patients in each group), 28-day mortality was higher in the group of patients infected with the 501Y.V2 variant (30.6%) than in the group of patients infected with the original strain (19.4%, P = 0.04). In Reunion Island, where SARS-CoV-2 incidence remained low until February 2021 and the health care system was never saturated, mortality was higher in patients with ARF infected with the 501Y.V2 variant than in patients infected with the original strain.

Abstract Background Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is poorly described in the literature. However, it has been shown to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Probabilistic antibiotic therapy against S. maltophilia is often ineffective as this pathogen is resistant to many antibiotics. There is no consensus at present on the best therapeutic strategy to adopt (class of antibiotics, antibiotic combination, dosage, treatment duration). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of antibiotic therapy strategy on the prognosis of patients with VAP caused by S. maltophilia. Results This retrospective study evaluated all consecutive patients who developed VAP caused by S. maltophilia between 2010 and 2018 while hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a French university hospital in Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean region. A total of 130 patients with a median Simplified Acute Physiology Score II of 58 [43–73] had VAP caused by S. maltophilia after a median duration of mechanical ventilation of 12 [5–18] days. Ventilator-associated pneumonia was polymicrobial in 44.6% of cases, and ICU mortality was 50.0%. After multivariate Cox regression analysis, the factors associated with increased ICU mortality were older age (hazard ratio (HR): 1.03; 95% CI 1.01–1.04, p = 0.001) and high Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score on the day of VAP onset (HR: 1.08; 95% CI 1.03–1.14, p = 0.002). Appropriate antibiotic therapy, and in particular trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, was associated with decreased ICU mortality (HR: 0.42; 95% CI 0.24–0.74, p = 0.003) and decreased hospital mortality (HR: 0.47; 95% CI 0.28–0.79, p = 0.04). Time to start of appropriate antibiotic therapy, combination therapy, and duration of appropriate antibiotic therapy had no effect on ICU mortality (p > 0.5). Conclusion In our study, appropriate antibiotic therapy, and in particular trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, was associated with decreased ICU and hospital mortality in patients with VAP caused by S. maltophilia.

BACKGROUND:Treatment by venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is widely used today, even though it is associated with high risks of complications and death. While studies have focused on the relationship between some of these complications and the risk of death, the relationship between different complications has never been specifically examined, despite the fact that the occurrence of one complication is known to favor the occurrence of others. Our objective was to describe the relationship between complications in patients undergoing VA-ECMO in intensive care unit (ICU) and to identify, if possible, patterns of patients according to complications. METHODS AND FINDINGS:As part of a retrospective cohort study, we conducted a multiple correspondence analysis followed by a hierarchical ascendant classification in order to identify patterns of patients according to main complications (sepsis, thromboembolic event, major transfusion, major bleeding, renal replacement therapy) and in-ICU death. Our cohort of 145 patients presented an in-ICU mortality rate of 50.3%. Morbidity was high, with 36.5% of patients presenting three or more of the five complications studied. Multiple correspondence analysis revealed a cumulative inertia of 76.9% for the first three dimensions. Complications were clustered together and clustered close to death, prompting the identification of four patterns of patients according to complications, including one with no complications. CONCLUSIONS:Our study, based on a large cohort of patients undergoing VA-ECMO in ICU and presenting a mortality rate comparable to that reported in the literature, identified numerous and often interrelated complications. Multiple correspondence analysis and hierarchical ascendant classification yielded clusters of patients and highlighted specific links between some of the complications studied. Further research should be conducted in this area.