Proposal to Collect Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Data Upon Waitlist Removal for Lung Candidates
Proposal Overview
The comment period for this proposal is now closed.
Sponsoring Committee: Thoracic Organ Transplantation
Strategic
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has become a more common treatment for patients with end-stage lung disease awaiting lung transplantation. The Thoracic Committee has been unable to consider the impact of ECMO support on lung allocation because this information is not routinely collected and reported to the OPTN. The Thoracic Committee proposes the collection of ECMO information at the time of waiting list removal to retrospectively capture each candidate’s mechanical ventilatory support history. This will provide the Thoracic Committee with data on a contemporary cohort of candidates in order to appropriately analyze how ECMO should be incorporated into the LAS calculation.