Background: Despite limited organ availability, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and retransplantation are becoming more commonplace.
Methods: Using the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database, we evaluated survival of patients treated with ECMO before lung transplantation and undergoing retransplantation. A query identified cadaveric recipients from 2001 to 2012 over the age of 6 years.
Results: Of 15,772 lung recipients, 15 583 never received ECMO, whereas 189 did. Mean age was 52.1 ± 14.4 versus 46.8 ± 16.5 years for non-ECMO and ECMO groups, respectively (p < 0.0001). Using Kaplan-Meier method, there were survival differences between ECMO and non-ECMO groups (p < 0.0001) and first-time transplants with and without ECMO to retransplants with and without ECMO (p < 0.0001). The proportional hazards model identified higher risk with ECMO use in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (hazard ratio [HR] 1.09; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.17; p = 0.014) and retransplants (HR 1.77; 95 % CI, 1.55-2.03; p < 0.0001).
Conclusions: Survival for retransplantation was similar to ECMO as a primary option with significant mortality associated with ECMO use in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and retransplants.