Direct Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Bridged Heart Transplantation: The Importance of Multi-Organ Failure

Recently, approximately 40% of all heart transplantation (HTx) in South Korea are performed using the direct extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) bridging method. We conducted a study to examine the clinical outcome of direct ECMO-bridged HTx and to investigate the impact of multi-organ failure (MOF). From June 2014 to September 2022, a total of 96 adult patients who underwent isolated HTx at a single tertiary hospital were included in the study. The patients were sub-grouped into ECMO (n=48) and non-ECMO group (n=48), and the ECMO group was subdivided into awake (n=22) and non-awake (n=26) groups based on mechanical ventilator (MV) dependency. Baseline characteristics, 30-day, and 1-year mortality were analyzed retrospectively. The 1-year survival rate was significantly lower in the ECMO group (72.9% vs. 95.8%, p=0.002). There was a significant difference in the 30-day survival rate between the awake and non-awake ECMO groups (81.8% vs. 65.4%, p=0.032). In the univariate analysis of logistic regression for 1-year mortality, the odds ratio was 8.5 for ECMO bridged HTx compared to the non-ECMO group, 12.3 in patients who required MV (p=0.003), and 23 with additional hemodialysis (p