Interhospital transportation of patients with severe lung failure on pumpless extracorporeal lung assist

Background.To describe the use of pumpless extracorporeal interventional lung assist (iLA) for transportation of patients with severe life-threatening acute lung failure from tertiary hospitals to a specialized centre. Methods. Retrospective analysis in eight patients with severe lung failure requiring interhospital transport, in whom implementation of an iLA system at a tertiary hospital for air/ground transportation was performed. Results. After implementation of iLA, a rapid increase in CO2-elimination (PaCO2 before iLA: 8.92–2.9 kPa, immediately after implementation: 5.06–0.93 kPa, 24 h after implementation: 4.53–1.20 kPa [mean–SD], P