In patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), it is unknown which clinical physiologic variables should be monitored to follow the evolution of lung injury and extrapulmonary organ dysfunction and to differentiate patients according to their course.

The time-course of prospectively collected clinical physiologic variables in 83 consecutive ARDS patients undergoing ECMO was analyzed at a single referral center.

Selected variables—including ventilator settings, respiratory system compliance, intrapulmonary shunt, arterial blood gases, central hemodynamics, and SOFA score—were compared according to outcome at time-points corresponding to 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the entire ECMO duration and daily during the first 7 days.

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