BACKGROUND Patients in fulminant hepatic failure currently do not have a temporary means of support while awaiting liver transplantation. A potential therapeutic approach for such patients is the use of extracorporeal perfusion with porcine livers as a form of "liver dialysis". During a 72-h extracorporeal perfusion of porcine livers with human blood, porcine Kupffer cells bind to and phagocyto...

A heparin-like effect was recently described in infants, children, and adults receiving bivalirudin while supported on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation following cardiopulmonary bypass. This is most likely due to endogenous release of glycosaminoglycans from vascular endothelium and mast cells and is associated with longer duration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and an increased inci...

Technological development that allowed for the introduction of extracorporeal circulation devices led to the beginning of open heart surgery. The first heart surgery using an extracorporeal circulation device was performed by Kirklin. Extracorporeal circulation devices had multiple negative effects on the physiology of the infant and the newborn, so that at the beginning of pediatric heart surg...

A 7-day-old boy who had been placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation on his second day of life developed biventricular failure after undergoing surgical repair of a supracardiac variant of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was again necessary for postoperative cardiopulmonary support. However, severe left ventricular failure made it imperativ...

INTRODUCTION Extracorporeal knotting in laparoscopic surgery can be used in certain situations or as a bridge to mastering more technically demanding intracorporeal suturing. We describe a simple, easy, and safe extracorporeal knotting technique. TECHNIQUE DESCRIPTION A simple knotting technique, borrowed from the art of tatting, is used. DISCUSSION This very simple and safe technique has b...

We describe a case of a patient assisted by extracorporeal life support, in which we obtained the dynamic filling index, a measure for venous volume during extracorporeal life support, and used this index to assess cardiac load-responsiveness during acute reloading. While reloading, the obtained findings on cardiac pump function by the dynamic filling index were supported by trans-esophageal ec...

Bleeding remains a potential complication for patients requiring extracorporeal life support systems. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is one of the drugs used in controlling bleeding. Its use is generally found to be safe. We report a paediatric patient who developed fatal thrombosis with the use of rFVIIa whilst on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and discuss the possible factors ...

BACKGROUND Magnesium (Mg) is the second most relevant intracellular element, which plays an important role in many physiological processes. Magnesium disorders are particularly important in haemodynamically unstable patients, such as patients after extracorporeal circulation. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in blood Mg levels in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass proced...

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...