Extracorporeal therapy in critically ill patients with COVID-19: a single-center experience

Highlights. Plasma separation and cytokine hemoperfusion effectively stop cytokine shock, but prolonged extracorporeal therapy in patients with COVID-19 has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing organ dysfunction without significantly affecting extent of lung parenchyma damage.

Aim. To assess the safety and efficacy of extracorporeal therapy in patients with COVID-19.

Methods. The study included 27 patients aged 67±9.7 [min 38, max 87] years with a laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 and bilateral polysegmental pneumonia, various concomitant chronic diseases who were admitted to Intensive Care Unit and received extracorporeal therapies. All patients had the mean NEWS score of 6.9±2.7 [min 4, max 9] and the mean SOFA score of 8.1±3.1 [min 3, max 16] at admission to the ICU. 19 patients (70.4%) had severe lung lesions over 75% according to the chest CT scans. 48 extracorporeal therapies were performed using the Multifiltrate (Fresenius Medical Care, Germany) and Aquarius (Nikkiso Aquarius RCA, Great Britain) medical devices. Indications for extracorporeal therapy initiation included cytokine storm associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome and septic shock.

Results. Generally, each patient received at least one extracorporeal therapy. 11 patients underwent 2 to 6 sessions. Isolated plasma separation and hemoperfusion helped to reduce vasopressor / cardiotonic support, slightly improved ventilation parameters, with a significant, but not long-term decrease in the levels of inflammation markers. Combining different modalities of extracorporeal therapy that provide rapid elimination of agents, controlled temperature response and hydration, maintaining homeostasis and detoxification, appeared to be most optimal. Extracorporeal therapy did not improve the volume of lung parenchyma or lung parenchyma damage. However, 19 (70.4%) patients who received extracorporeal therapy transitioned from mechanical ventilation to spontaneous breathing, whereas 8 (29.6%) patients had severe lung lesions (over 75%) according to the repeated chest CT scans. The mean length of stay in the ICU among survivors was 9±3.5 [min 4, max 22]. The 28-day mortality and in-hospital mortality rate was 25.9% (7).

Conclusion. Prolonged extracorporeal therapy in patients with SARS-Cov-2 has demonstrated efficacy in relieving organ dysfunctions and shock states, but did not significantly affect the remaining lung parenchyma damage.

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