Efficacy of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Acute Respiratory Failure with Interstitial Lung Disease; A Case Control Nationwide Dataset Study in Japan

Abstract

Background: Since it is uncertain whether acute respiratory failure in patients with interstitial lung disease is reversible, indications for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in these patients remain controversial, except for bridging to lung transplantation. The objective of this study was to clarify in-hospital mortality and prognostic factors in interstitial lung disease patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.Study design and Methods: Case-control study. Using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, we reviewed hospitalized interstitial lung disease patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory failure from 2010 to 2017. As we focused on the efficacy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as an intervention for managing merely acute respiratory failure, patients treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a bridge to lung transplantation were excluded.Results: A total of 164 interstitial lung disease patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were included, 122 of whom (74.4%) died during hospitalization. Compared with survivors, non-survivors were older and received high-dose cyclophosphamide, protease inhibitors, and antifungal drugs more frequently but macrolides and anti-influenza drugs less frequently. Multivariate analysis revealed the following factors were associated with in-hospital mortality: advanced age with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.048 and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.015–1.082, non-use of macrolides (OR, 0.264; 95% CI, 0.118–0.589), and use of antifungal drugs (OR, 3.158; 95% CI, 1.377–7.242).Conclusions: Approximately three quarters of interstitial lung disease patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation died in hospital. Moreover, advanced age, non-use of macrolides, and use of antifungal drugs were found to correlate with a poor prognosis.