Lung transplantation (LT) is definitive therapy for end-stage lung disease. Donor allocation based on medical urgency has led to an increased trend in the transplantation of sicker and older patients. Mechanical ventilation (MV) formerly was the only method of bridging high-acuity patients to LT. When the physiological demands of ventilatory support exceeds the capability of MV, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may become necessary. Recent improvements in ECMO technology and component design have led to a resurgence of interest in its use before, during, and after LT. Survival with ECMO as a bridge to LT has improved over time, now with many centers reporting little or no difference in outcomes, and some even reporting better outcomes, as compared with MV. Extracorporeal life support may also be used intraoperatively. In many studies to date, ECMO or cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has been reserved for patients who became hemodynamically unstable during the procedure or patients who could not tolerate single-lung ventilation. Both methods of support are fraught with potential complications. However, multiple studies comparing ECMO with CPB have shown that intraoperative use of ECMO resulted in improved outcomes and overall survival as well as lower rates of bleeding complications. In order to further reduce complications associated with ECMO, planned intraoperative ECMO use is occasionally reserved for high-risk patients who might otherwise require CPB. Future studies will need to improve patient selection to fully take advantage of the use of ECMO in LT while minimizing its costs.
Keywords: bridge to transplant; extracorporeal life support; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; lung transplantation; transplantation.