Background and Objective: In thoracic surgery, different modalities of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) can be used for cardiorespiratory in complex scenarios. Decades learning clinical practice physiology associated with technological development led to a great variety ECLS technologies available. Thoracic surgery procedures difficult or impossible single lung ventilation may still performed...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To provide a summary of the recent literature on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in adults with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), focusing on advances in equipment, current conventional and unconventional indications, complications, and future applications. RECENT FINDINGS ECMO use has increased during the past 5 years. Advances in cannulation, ci...

BACKGROUND The extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used in the neonatal and childhood periods with excellent results. The adult experience has been modest with inferior immediate results. The intermediate survival, however, has been promising. We have been using the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for temporary mechanical circulatory support of adults that present with acute...

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS), or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as it is also known, has been used to support over 45,000 patients to date. Overall survival is 62%. After many years of no change in equipment and technology, there has been a recent flurry of new pumps, cannulas, and oxygenators available for ECLS use. While the impact of this new technology is not yet complete...

Though rare, rituximab has been reported to induce severe pulmonary edema. We describe the first report of ECLS utilization for this indication. A 31-year-old female with severe thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura developed florid pulmonary edema after rituximab infusion. Despite advanced ventilatory settings, she developed severe respiratory acidosis and remained hypoxemic with a significant v...

STUDY OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to demonstrate the safety and utility of a method of percutaneous access for cannulation of adult patients for venovenous extracorporeal life support (ECLS). DESIGN A retrospective review of a patient series. SETTING A surgical ICU at a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS The study group consisted of 94 adults > 17 years old with respirat...

Status asthmaticus continues to be significant cause of intensive care admission, morbidity, and mortality in pediatric populations. Furthermore, despite improved outpatient management and broader use of controller medications, patients with severe status asthmaticus account for a notable proportion of these admissions. There is variability in management and outcomes between institutions; howev...

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), the most common form of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) technology, is an increasingly common way of providing life support to patients in severe cardiac or respiratory failure. In the vast majority of instances, informed consent, as it is commonly understood, cannot be obtained from either the patient or a proxy agent. The obstacles to obtaining i...