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We investigated if early relative change in Paco2 or mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) soon after starting ECMO was associated with neurologic complications. The primary outcome of neurologic complications was defined as a report of seizures, central nervous system infarction or hemorrhage, or brain death. All-cause mortality (including brain death) was used as a secondary outcome.
Out of 7,270 patients, 15.6% had neurologic complications. Neurologic complications increased when the relative Paco2 decreased by greater than 50% (18.4%) or 30–50% (16.5%) versus those who had a minimal change (13.9%, p < 0.01 and p = 0.046). When the relative MAP increased greater than 50%, the rate of neurologic complications was 16.9% versus 13.1% those with minimal change (p = 0.007). In a multivariable model adjusting for confounders, a relative decrease in Paco2 greater than 30% was independently associated with greater odds of neurologic complication (odds ratio [OR], 1.25; 95% CI, 1.07–1.46; p = 0.005). Within this group, with a relative decrease in Paco2 greater than 30%, the effects of increased relative MAP increased neurologic complications (0.05% per BP Percentile; 95% CI, 0.001–0.11; p = 0.05).