INTRODUCTION The use of therapeutic hypothermia during neonatal extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a neurologic protective strategy has gained interest among clinicians despite limited data. Our objective is to describe the relationship between the use of therapeutic hypothermia during neonatal ECMO and complications, mortality and functional status among survivors. METHODS Seconda...

Sir, the influenza pandemic of 2009/2010 has brought pulmonary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMo) once again to the attention of those involved in intensive care. Specialized conferences are now common and topics such as “the best techniques for blood vessel cannulation” give the impression that ECMo is a well known and well handled technique by most clinicians. Despite the achievements...

BACKGROUND Current organ allocation algorithms direct hearts to the sickest recipients to mitigate death while waiting. This may result in lower post-transplant (Tx) survival for high-risk candidates mandating close examination to determine the appropriateness of different technologies as a bridge to Tx. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed all patients (<18 years old) from the Pediatric Heart Tra...

This case report addresses the use of Argatroban, an anticoagulant and thrombin inhibitor for treatment of thrombocytopenia in an adult patient on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). After 5 days on ECMO, the patient showed signs of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) with a platelet count of 20K. Argatroban was initiated to decrease progression of HIT and continue treatment with ECM...

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a salvage therapy for critically ill patients. Although ECMO is becoming more common, hemorrhagic and thromboembolic complications remain the major causes of death in patients undergoing ECMO treatments. These complications commence upon blood contact with artificial surfaces of the circuit, blood pump, and oxygenator system. Therefore, anticoagulat...

INTRODUCTION Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is used in critically ill patients presenting acute cardiac and/or pulmonary dysfunctions, who are at high risk of developing acute kidney injury and fluid overload. Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is commonly used in intensive care units (ICU) to provide renal replacement and fluid management. We conducted a review to assess t...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the long-term outcomes of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This study aimed to investigate the 1-year outcomes of these patients or patients receiving mechanical ventilation (MV) and compare their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) to the general population. METHODS Severe ARDS...

BACKGROUND Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) is a valuable life support in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adult patients. However, the success of VV-ECMO is known to be influenced by the baseline settings of mechanical ventilation (MV) before its institution. This study was aimed at identifying the baseline ventilator parameters which were independently ass...

BACKGROUND An increasing number of centers are using active rehabilitation and ambulation for critically ill patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to lung transplantation. This investigation assessed the economic impact at a single center of ambulatory versus non-ambulatory ECMO strategies as a bridge to lung transplantation. METHODS We conducted a single-center r...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine the early outcomes of using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in near-drowning patients with cardiac or pulmonary failure. METHODS This study was based on data from 9 patients including 2 children (mean age 33; 8 males, 1 female) who received ECMO after near-drowning between 2008 and 2013. Veno-arterial or veno-arteriovenous ECMO was ...