Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Children With Cancer or Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Single-Center Experience in 20 Consecutive Patients

Jenny C Potratz; Sarah Guddorf; Martina Ahlmann; Maria Tekaat; Claudia Rossig; Heymut Omran; Katja Masjosthusmann; Andreas H Groll

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.664928

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Children With Cancer or Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Single-Center Experience in 20 Consecutive Patients

Front Oncol. 2021 Apr 27:11:664928. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.664928. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jenny C Potratz¹, Sarah Guddorf¹, Martina Ahlmann², Maria Tekaat¹, Claudia Rossig², Heymut Omran¹, Katja Masjosthusmann¹, Andreas H Groll²

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Pediatrics, University Children's Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.
² Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Children's Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.

Abstract

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a rescue therapy for severe respiratory and/or circulatory failure. Few data exist on the potential benefit of ECMO in immunocompromised pediatric patients with cancer and/or hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Over a period of 12 years, eleven (1.9%) of 572 patients with new diagnosis of leukemia/lymphoma and nine (3.5%) of 257 patients post allogeneic HCT underwent ECMO at our center. Five (45%) and two (22%) patients, respectively, survived to hospital discharge with a median event-free survival of 4.2 years. Experiences and outcomes in this cohort may aid clinicians and families when considering ECMO for individual patients.

Keywords: cancer; children; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; immunosuppression; infection; leukemia; respiratory failure; transplantation.