Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia frequently causes severe pulmonary restriction that in turn makes mechanical ventilation difficult. We report the case of a 44-year-old woman who developed a refractory severe hypercapnic respiratory failure (P(aCO(2)) 281 mm Hg, pH 6.77) despite mechanical ventilation with high inspiratory pressure and PEEP. A pumpless extracorporeal lung assist device, Noval...

BACKGROUND Extracorporeal lung assist devices are increasingly used in the intensive care unit setting to improve extracorporeal gas exchange mainly in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. ARDS is frequently accompanied by acute kidney injury; however it is so far unknown how the combination of these two conditions affects long term survival of critically ill patients. METHODS I...

We report on a 16-year-old boy after an event of cardiac arrest and initial treatment with a veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenator (ECMO). After a short stabilisation period a biventricular assist device (BVAD, Thoratec) was implanted. Although the BVAD was functioning well, the patient showed persisting hypoxemia. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a patent foramen ovale with a...

Postcardiotomy failure requiring ventricular assist occurs in about 1% of adult patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures. One method of support is a short-term ventricular assist device. This incurs the cost of the device, which is substantial, and allows for reduced anticoagulation in the first 24 hours. Another option is a heparin-coated extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) circu...

introduction More than one in three American adults have at least one type of cardiovascular disease and it is the leading cause of death in the U.s. for both men and women. recent estimates of the total burden of cardiovascular disease equate to $312.6 billion in annual combined direct and indirect costs. Heart failure is one of the main causes necessitating acute hemodynamic support, and acut...

We present an interesting case of a complete vanishing of the left main bronchus in a lung transplant recipient who had a successful outcome due to acute respiratory support with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in order to perform airway dilation.

A 60-year-old man was admitted to our department with non ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock. Total revascularization, using percutaneous coronary intervention facilitated by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support, was performed, with a favorable outcome.

BACKGROUND Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by acute heart failure or cardiogenic shock have high mortality with conventional management. OBJECTIVES This study evaluated outcomes of patients with AMI who received durable ventricular assist devices (VAD). METHODS Patients in the INTERMACS (Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support) registry...

Overdose of cardiovascular medications such as beta blockers and calcium channel blockers cause impaired cardiac contractility, vasoplegia, and/or rhythm disturbances. In addition to conventional management of limiting absorption, increasing elimination and hemodynamic support intravenous (IV) calcium infusion, hyperinsulinemia-euglycemia therapy, glucagon infusion, and IV lipid emulsion have b...