Predictors of Mortality in Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Regardless of Early Left Ventricular Unloading: A National Experience

Objective: The use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) has been suggested to unload the left ventricle while on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) for cardiogenic shock (CS), leading to possibly improved in-hospital mortality. However, the predictors of mortality on dual mechanical circulatory support have not yet been evaluated, especially in real-world clinical settings. Therefore, a case-control study was conducted to determine the rate of all-cause mortality associated with VA-ECMO use regardless of left ventricular (LV) unloading, and with early LV unloading in the setting of CS, and to identify the predictors of mortality associated with VA-ECMO, with concurrent early LV unloading. Design: Retrospective observational case-control study. Setting: National tertiary cardiology center. Participants: All patients with CS requiring VA-ECMO cannulation during the index admission between January 06, 2016, and January 0, 2022. Intervention: VA-ECMO with or without IABP MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patient- and disease-related characteristics associated with in-hospital 30-day mortality following VA-ECMO with and without IABP support were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. Results are presented as odds ratio (OR), and a p-value < 0.05 indicates statistical significance. A total of 110 patients were included. Most were male (90%) with a mean age of 53 +/- 11 years. Around 67% were Asian. The majority of patients were admitted with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (87%), with 26% presenting with left main disease. In-hospital 30-day mortality occurred in 42.7% of those who received VA-ECMO support regardless of IABP use, while it was 46.9% among those receiving early LV unloading with IABP. Significant positive predictors of mortality with VA-ECMO regardless of IABP in CS were cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) >20 minutes (adjusted OR 14.74, 95% confidence interval 2.02-107.41, p-value = 0.008), older age (ie, >55 years) and left main disease of more than 50% stenosis were associated with a fourfold increase in the odds of mortality while on VA-ECMO. Conversely, CPR >20 minutes (adjusted OR 12.45, 95% confidence interval 1.79-86.36, p-value = 0.011) was the only significant positive predictor of mortality with VA-ECMO and IABP. Conclusion: The mortality rate in CS requiring VA-ECMO, regardless of IABP use, remains high. However, only one predictor (ie, prolonged CPR) was found to increase the likelihood of 30-day mortality with early LV unloading, suggesting that concomitant IABP use might minimize the effect of mortality predictors. (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)