Neurologic Injury With Severe Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis.

This retrospective single-center study investigated the incidence of neurologic injury as determined by autopsy or cerebral imaging in 74 patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Seventy-three percent of patients were treated with venovenous and 27% with venoarterial ECMO. ECMO-associated intracerebral hemorrhage was diagnosed in 10.8% of patients. There were no cases of ischemic stroke. Clinical characteristics did not differ between patients with and without neurologic injury. Six-month survival was 13% (Wilson confidence interval, 2%-47%) in patients with severe intracerebral hemorrhage compared to an overall survival rate of 57% (Wilson confidence interval, 45%-67%).