Patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are at risk of circuit thrombosis due to constant contact between blood and the extracorporeal components. Unfractionated heparin has traditionally been used in this setting as a systemic form of anticoagulation to prevent thrombosis of the circuit. However, if a patient develops heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), an alternative...

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) improves survival in neonatal and pediatric patients with reversible severe respiratory or cardiac failure, in whom intensive treatment fails. Since 1999, a multidisciplinary team is trained to form the first neonatal-pediatric ECMO center in Chile, according to the norms of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). During 2003 the first thr...

BACKGROUND Near-fatal asthma attacks are life threatening events that often require mechanical ventilation. Extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) is, beside extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a well-established rescue option whenever ventilation gets to its limits. But there seems to be very rare experience with those techniques in avoiding mechanical ventilation in severe ast...

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) utilizes a modified heart-lung machine with a membrane oxygenator in the setting of profound cardiorespiratory failure. ECMO has been used successfully in pediatric and adult applications, though the most frequent indication is neonatal respiratory failure in conditions such as persistent pulmonary hypertension, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, congeni...

Neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) leading to cardiopulmonary dysfunction is a potentially life-threatening complication in patients with central nervous system lesions. This case report describes a 28-yr woman with life-threatening fulminant NPE, which was refractory to conventional respiratory treatment, following the rupture of an aneurysm. She was treated successfully with extracorporeal memb...

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used more extensively since it became known as a potential bridge therapy, in patients with severe respiratory failure even under optimum conventional mechanical ventilator support, for further definite therapy. In the area of thoracic surgery, ECMO may have already become a useful lifesaving tool but studies on this treatment method remain sc...

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a rare and potentially deadly complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report two adult cases where extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used as rescue therapy for severe respiratory failure in this setting. We discuss the risk related to coagulation disturbance and the need for the circuit anticoagulation in this particular setting. ...

We report the first successful use of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for refractory respiratory failure in an infant with DiGeorge anomaly, following thymus transplantation. A 23-month-old female with complete immune-incompetent DiGeorge anomaly 65 days after allogenic thymus transplantation was treated in our pediatric intensive care unit for acute respiratory failure se...

Introduction Precise assessment of left ventricular (LV) contractility during veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is crucial. However, changes in loading conditions may mask changes in LV function when assessed with load-dependent indices like LV ejection fraction (LVEF). Indeed, these indices do not reflect intrinsic LV contractility but are the result of interaction be...

BACKGROUND The investigators compared a series of adult survivors of severe H1N1 pneumonia treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) with members of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization registry for patients with H1N1 with regard to ventilator management while on ECMO. METHODS Adults who survived ECMO were compared regarding time on ECMO for those treated with the Volume...