Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO) has been classically employed as a rescue therapy for patients with respiratory failure not treatable with conventional mechanical ventilation alone. In recent years, however, the timing of ECMO initiation has been readdressed and ECMO is often started earlier in the time course of respiratory failure. Furthermore, some centers are starti...

Introduction Recent evidence suggests low-flow extracorporeal CO2 removal (ECCO2-R) systems as safe and promising adjunctive therapy to avoid endotracheal intubation and the related negative consequences in subjects with severe hypercapnic respiratory failure [1]. In high-flow extracorporeal membrane oxygenation systems heterogeneous coagulation disorders are a well-known complication. However,...

Abstract Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) plays an important role as a life-saving tool for patients with therapy-refractory cardio-respiratory failure. Especially, rare and infrequent indications, scientific data is scarce. The conducted paper focuses primarily on our institutional experience 19-year-old patient suffering acute chest syndrome, pathognomonic pulmonary condition presen...

Abstract Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) aims to fully support heart and lung function in postcardiac patients, ensuring end-organ perfusion allowing time for possible recovery. VA ECMO is considered the modified extended form of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), which used provide adequate tissue oxygenation. associated management protocols will mechanically patient allo...

Legionella pneumophila is responsible for hospital or community-acquired pneumonia. Neonatal legionellosis is associated with rapidly severe clinical course and high mortality rates. We describe a case of hospital-acquired Legionella pneumonia in a newborn with undiagnosed tracheoesophageal fistula and acute respiratory failure requiring venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support be...

Clinical use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and carbon dioxide removal (ECCO 2R) have become well established techniques for the treatment of severe respiratory failure; however they require full cardiopulmonary bypass, representing major procedures with high morbidity. We theorized the possibility of an efficient low flow veno-venous extracorporeal membrane gas exchange method....

BACKGROUND Previous influenza surveillance at paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in Germany indicated increased incidence of PICU admissions for the pandemic influenza subtype A(H1N1)pdm09. We investigated incidence and clinical characteristics of influenza in children admitted to PICUs during the first three post-pandemic influenza seasons, using active screening. METHODS We conducted a...

Additional pulmonary surgery in a previously pneumonectomized patient requires apnea during surgical manipulation of the surviving lung. We report on a novel approach to manage the intraoperative apnea period, combining apneic oxygenation and minimally invasive, low flow extracorporeal CO2 removal. A 69-year-old man previously submitted to left pneumonectomy was scheduled for wedge resection of...

Neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a technology for the treatment of respiratory failure in newborns, is used as a case study to examine statistical and ethical aspects of clinical trials and to illustrate a proposed 'ethics of evidence', an approach to medical uncertainty within the context of contemporary biomedical ethics. Discussion includes the twofold aim of the ethics o...