TY - JOUR A1 - Lingel, Maximilian P. A1 - Haus, Moritz A1 - Paschke, Lukas A1 - Foltan, Maik A1 - Lubnow, Matthias A1 - Gruber, Michael A1 - Krenkel, Lars A1 - Lehle, Karla T1 - Clinical relevance of cell-free DNA during venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation T2 - Artificial organs N2 - BACKGROUND: Thrombosis remains a critical complication during venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO). The involvement of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in thrombogenesis has to be discussed. The aim was to verify NETs in the form of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the plasma of patients during ECMO. METHODS: A fluorescent DNA-binding dye (QuantifFluor®, Promega) was used to detect cell-free DNA in plasma samples. cfDNA concentrations from volunteers (n = 21) and patients (n = 9) were compared and correlated with clinical/technical data before/during support, ECMO end and time of a system exchange. RESULTS: Before ECMO, patients with a median (IQR) age of 59 (51/63) years, SOFA score of 11 (10/15), and ECMO run time of 9.0 (7.0/19.5) days presented significantly higher levels of cfDNA compared to volunteers (6.4 (5.8/7.9) ng/μL vs. 5.9 (5.4/6.3) ng/μL; p = 0.044). Within 2 days after ECMO start, cfDNA, inflammatory, and hemolysis parameters remained unchanged, while platelets decreased (p = 0.005). After ECMO removal at the end of therapy, cfDNA, inflammation, and coagulation data (except antithrombin III) remained unchanged. The renewal of a system resulted in known alterations in fibrinogen, d-dimers, and platelets, while cfDNA remained unchanged. CONCLUSION: Detection of cfDNA in plasma of ECMO patients was not an indicator of acute and circuit-induced thrombogenesis. KW - blood KW - cell- free DNA KW - coagulation KW - ECMO KW - inflammation KW - neutrophil extracellular traps Y1 - 2023 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-oth-regensburg/frontdoor/index/index/docId/6744 SN - 1525-1594 VL - 47 IS - 11 SP - 1720 EP - 1731 PB - Wiley ER -