The efficacy of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains controversial.

Rationale: Current practices regarding mechanical ventilation in patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acute respiratory distress syndrome are unknown. Objectives: To report current practices regarding mechanical ventilation in patients treated with ECMO for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and their association with 6-month outcomes. Methods: This was an international, multicenter, prospective cohort study of patients undergoing ECMO for ARDS during a 1-year period in 23 international ICUs. Measurements and Main Results: We collected demographics, daily pre- and per-ECMO mechanical ventilation settings and use of adjunctive therapies, ICU, and 6-month outcome data for 350 patients (mean ± SD pre-ECMO PaO2/FiO2 71 ± 34 mm Hg). Pre-ECMO use of prone positioning and neuromuscular blockers were 26% and 62%, respectively. Vt (6.4 ± 2.0 vs. 3.7 ± 2.0 ml/kg), plateau pressure (32 ± 7 vs. 24 ± 7 cm H2O), driving pressure (20 ± 7 vs. 14 ± 4 cm H2O), respiratory rate (26 ± 8 vs. 14 ± 6 breaths/min), and mechanical power (26.1 ± 12.7 vs. 6.6 ± 4.8 J/min) were markedly reduced after ECMO initiation. Six-month survival was 61%. No association was found between ventilator settings during the first 2 days of ECMO and survival in multivariable analysis. A time-varying Cox model retained older age, higher fluid balance, higher lactate, and more need for renal-replacement therapy along the ECMO course as being independently associated with 6-month mortality. A higher Vt and lower driving pressure (likely markers of static compliance improvement) across the ECMO course were also associated with better outcomes. Conclusions: Ultraprotective lung ventilation on ECMO was largely adopted across medium– to high–case volume ECMO centers. In contrast with previous observations, mechanical ventilation settings during ECMO did not impact patients’ prognosis in this context.

Introduction: In this study, we sought describe the incidence and outcomes of severe metabolic or mixed acidemia in critically ill patients as well as the use of sodium bicarbonate therapy to treat these illnesses. Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational, multiple-center study. Consecutive patients who presented with severe acidemia, defined herein as plasma pH below 7.20, were screened. The incidence, sodium bicarbonate prescription and outcomes of either metabolic or mixed severe acidemia were analyzed. Results: Among 2, 550 critically ill patients, 200 (8%) presented with severe acidemia, and 155 (6% of the total admissions) met the inclusion criteria. Almost all patients needed mechanical ventilation and vasopressors during their ICU stay, and 20% of them required renal replacement therapy within the first 24 hours of their ICU stay. Severe metabolic or mixed acidemia was associated with a mortality rate of 57% in the ICU. Delay of acidemia recovery as opposed to initial pH value was associated with increased mortality in the ICU. The type of acidemia did not influence the decision to administer sodium bicarbonate. Conclusions: The incidence of severe metabolic or mixed acidemia in critically ill patients was 6% in the present study, and it was associated with a 57% mortality rate in the ICU. In contradistinction with the initial acid-base parameters, the rapidity of acidemia recovery was an independent risk factor for mortality. Sodium bicarbonate prescription was very heterogeneous between ICUs. Further studies assessing specific treatments may be of interest in this population.

To assess the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of active cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in nonimmunosuppressed intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Prospective epidemiologic study. A medical ICU in a university hospital. Two hundred forty-two nonimmunosuppressed ICU patients mechanically ventilated for >or=2 days. Routine pp65 antigenemia and serology for CMV were performed at admission, and then weekly. Bronchoalveolar lavage viral cultures were done when pneumonia was suspected. Thirty-nine of the 242 ICU patients (16.1%, confidence interval 11.5% to 20.7%) developed an active CMV infection, as diagnosed by positive antigenemia (85%) and/or positive rapid viral culture in bronchoalveolar lavage (26%). Antiviral treatment was initiated in 21 (54%) patients. ICU mortality (54% vs. 37%, p = 0.082) and in-hospital mortality (59% vs. 41%, p = 0.058) were increased in patients with active CMV infection, as compared with those without active CMV infection. Active CMV infection and Simplified Acute Physiology Score II at admission were associated with ICU death on multivariate analysis. The patients with active CMV infection had longer mechanical ventilation and longer ICU stay and were significantly more prone to developing bacterial nosocomial infections (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that prior admission to other wards (p = 0.043; odds ratio [OR], 2.49), blood transfusions (p = 0.04; OR, 3.31), enteral feeding (p = 0.005; OR, 3.00), recent corticosteroid use before ICU admission (p = 0.08; OR, 2.26), and age (p = 0.07; OR, 1.026) were associated with the occurrence of active CMV infection. : Active CMV infection is common among previously healthy patients under mechanical ventilation in a medical ICU. Further studies are needed to evaluate the role of antiviral treatments to reduce both the incidence and the outcome impact of active CMV infection.