Critically ill patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) sometimes require treatment with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to support gas exchange. To prevent clotting of the ECMO circuit, these patients need to be anticoagulated. This protective anticoagulation also leeds to an increased bleeding risk. Most critically ill COVID-19 patients suffer from an ARDS and some require ECMO support. However, the optimal strategy and targets for the anticoagulation of these patients remain uncertain. Studies have shown that COVID-19 is associated with endotheliopathy probably leading to procoagulatory effects. On the other hand, the incidence of bleeding complications associated with this endotheliopathy is not clear and remains to be elucidated. Anticoagulation of COVID-19 patients on ECMO thus poses a challenge for clinicians. The hypothesis of the current project is that COVID-19 patients with ARDS on ECMO exhibit a higher number of bleeding complications compared to historical control patients with non-COVID-19 ARDS requiring ECMO support.
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Cerebral bleedings in critically ill ARDS patients requiring ECMO support
Timeframe: From date of inclusion of patients into the study, all outcome measures will be analyzed in a time-to-event analysis ranging from ICU admission up to the bleeding event, assessed up to six months