Comparative Propensity Matched Outcomes in Severe COVID-19 Respiratory Failure-Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation or Maximum Ventilation Alone.

OBJECTIVE: Does extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) improve outcomes in ECMO-eligible patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure compared to maximum ventilation alone (MVA)? SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: ECMO is beneficial in severe cases of respiratory failure when mechanical ventilation is inadequate. Outcomes for ECMO-eligible COVID-19 patients on MVA have not been reported. Consequently, a direct comparison between COVID-19 patients on ECMO and those on MVA has not been established. METHODS: A total of 3406 COVID-19 patients treated at two major medical centers in Chicago were studied. One hundred ninety-five required maximum ventilatory support, and met ECMO eligibility criteria. Eighty ECMO patients were propensity matched to an equal number of MVA patients using detailed demographic, physiological, and comorbidity data. Primary outcome was survival and disposition at discharge. RESULTS: Seventy-one percent of patients were decannulated from ECMO. Mechanical ventilation was discontinued in 75% ECMO and 16% MVA patients. Twenty-five percent of patients in the ECMO arm expired, 21% while on ECMO, compared with 74% in the MVA cohort. Mortality was significantly lower across all age and BMI groups in the ECMO arm. Sixty-eight percent ECMO and 26% MVA patients were discharged from the hospital. Fewer ECMO patients required long-term rehabilitation. Major complications such as septic shock, ventilator associated pneumonia, inotropic requirements, acute liver and kidney injuries are less frequent among ECMO patients. CONCLUSIONS: ECMO-eligible patients with severe COVID-19 respiratory failure demonstrate a 3-fold improvement in survival with ECMO. They are also in a better physical state at discharge and have lower overall complication rates. As such, strong consideration should be given for ECMO when mechanical ventilatory support alone becomes insufficient in treating COVID-19 respiratory failure.

Surgical treatment for a case of coronary steal from a traumatic coronary artery-cameral fistula after blunt cardiac injury.

INTRODUCTION: Blunt cardiac trauma covers a spectrum of injuries from clinically insignificant myocardial contusions to lethal ruptures of cardiac valves and chambers. Traumatic coronary artery-cameral fistulas (TCAF) are a rare sequelae of blunt chest trauma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 53-year-old male developed a TCAF after a motor vehicle collision. He was found on admission to be in cardiogenic shock with an elevated troponin and intermittent bifascicular block. An echocardiogram revealed hypokinesis of the mid-anteroseptal myocardium with an ejection fraction of 50%. Cardiac catheterization revealed a pseudoaneurysm of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) with a fistulous connection to the right ventricle, shown to be associated with reversible anterior wall ischemia from distal LAD coronary steal phenomenon on a nuclear perfusion scan. Given the ischemic burden, he was treated with operative revascularization via a single vessel coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) using the left internal mammary artery to LAD. DISCUSSION: Early repair of TCAF can halt the progression of complications like left-to-right shunting, pulmonary hypertension, and heart failure. The two best described operative approaches to surgical closure of the fistula are either via external ligation or direct repair from within the recipient chamber, possibly with bypass grafting distal to the fistula site. Transcatheter closure and conservative management has been described for select patients with iatrogenic fistulas in recent literature. CONCLUSION: High levels of clinical suspicion are necessary for the early detection and intervention of TCAF. Surgical or transcatheter interventions including fistula ligation and CABG can prevent later complications of heart failure.