Evaluation of Endothelial Biomarkers on the Prognosis of Patients on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Abstract Background: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is often used in critical patients with severe myocardial failure. However, acute kidney injury (AKI) commonly occurs in patients on ECMO and usually brings about poor outcome. Recent studies suggest that renal vascular endothelial cell injury participates in the extent and maintenance of AKI. This study aimed to determine whether the endothelial biomarkers could serve as prognostic factors for the outcome of patients on ECMO. Methods: This prospective study enrolled total 23 critically ill patients on veno-arterial ECMO in the intensive care units of a tertiary care hospital between March 2014 and February 2015. Serum samples were tested for thrombomodulin, angiopoietin (Ang)-1, Ang-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were also collected. Results: The overall mortality rate was 56.5%. The combination of Ang-2 at the time of ECMO support (day 0) and VEGF at day 2 had modest prognostic ability of discriminating mortality (area under receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC], 0.854; 95% confidence interval: 0.645-0.965). Conclusions: In this study, we found that the combination of Ang-2 at day 0 and VEGF at day 2 was a modest model for mortality discrimination in this group of patients.