Sedation Practice in ECMO-Treated Patients with ARDS

Our objective was to characterize sedation management in adult patients with severe respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) treated with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). We conducted a retrospective... read more

How Should ECMO Initiation and Withdrawal Decisions Be Shared?

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a new technology used to rescue patients with severe circulatory or respiratory failure and help bridge them to recovery or to definitive therapies like device implantation or... read more

Economic Evaluation of vv-ECMO for Severe ARDS

Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO) is increasingly being used to support patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but its cost-effectiveness is unknown. The cost-utility of vv-ECMO... read more

ECMO Use in Cardiogenic Shock

Increasing age is a well-recognized risk factor for in-hospital mortality in patients receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for cardiogenic shock, but the shape of this relationship is unknown. Age is linearly... read more

Textbook of Critical Care

Comprehensive, concise, and readable, Textbook of Critical Care, 7th Edition, brings you fully up to date with the effective management of critically ill patients, providing the evidence-based guidance you need to overcome... read more

Textbook of Critical Care

Contemporary Management of Cardiogenic Shock

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a multifactorial and hemodynamically diverse high-acuity illness that is frequently associated with multisystem organ failure. The complexity of CS requires a widespread application of best-care... read more

ECMO Global Trends and Use in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

In this video, Dr. Ravi Thiagarajan, Chief of the Division of Cardiac Critical Care at Boston Children's Hospital, and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, outlines past and present trends in ECMO use across... read more

Determination of Brain Death Under Extracorporeal Life Support

The worldwide use of extracorporeal lung/life support is increasing in severe lung failure (veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, vvECMO) or in cardiac arrest/severe circulatory failure (veno-arterial ECMO, vaECMO).... read more

ECMO in the Critical Trauma Patient

Growing evidence suggests the potential use of Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for the treatment of refractory respiratory failure in adults, but the clinical benefit in polytraumatic patients is not clear. The... read more

Medicating patients during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which can support gas exchange or hemodynamics in patients with severe respiratory or cardiac failure, has demonstrated considerable evolution over the last decade [1], with a steady... read more

Teen Who Walked While On Life Support is Home from Hospital

For the past 467 days, Zei Uwadia has been hospitalized on life support -- but that hasn't kept the quiet-natured teenager from walking, eating her favorite foods or even doing planks as exercise. Now, with determination... read more

Predicting Mortality in Patients Undergoing VA-ECMO After CABG

Prediction scoring systems for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) have not yet been reported. This study was designed to develop a predictive score... read more

Thromboelastography-based Anticoagulation Management During ECMO

Thromboelastography (TEG) seems to be safely used to guide anticoagulation management during ECMO. Its use was associated with the administration of lower heparin doses compared to a standard of care aPTT-based protocol.... read more

Is a Golden Age of Resuscitation on the Horizon?

Is emergency medicine on the verge of "the dawn of a new golden age of resuscitation?" That's the bold prediction from CPR innovator Keith Lurie, MD, a professor of internal and emergency medicine at the University of Minnesota,... read more

Surviving Refractory Out-of-Hospital Ventricular Fibrillation Cardiac Arrest

Multi-system organ failure is ubiquitous but treatable with adequate hemodynamic support. Neurologic recovery was prolonged requiring delayed prognostication. Immediate 24/7 availability of surgical and medical specialty... read more

Does Lactate Clearance Prognosticates Outcomes in ECMO Therapy

Changes in lactate levels after ECMO implantation is an important tool to assess effective circulatory support and it is found superior to single lactate measurements as a prognostic sign of mortality in our study. Based... read more

Comparing Percutaneous to Open Access for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Pediatric Respiratory Failure

The proportion of pediatric patients undergoing percutaneous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cannulation is increasing. Mechanical and physiologic complications occur with both methods of cannulation, but percutaneous... read more

ECMO for Severe ARDS

Mr. Jackson is a 36-year-old man whom you are caring for in the intensive care unit (ICU). Before this hospitalization, he was healthy and took no medications. He has never smoked, and he drinks three or four beers every... read more

Functional Status Change Among Children With ECMO to Support Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in a Pediatric Cardiac ICU

This is the first extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation report to examine changes in Functional Status Scale from admission (baseline) to discharge as a measure of overall functional outcome. Half of surviving patients... read more

What’s New in Severe Pulmonary Embolism?

Severe pulmonary embolism (PE) remains a major cause of mortality. For intensivists managing the most "severe" forms of PE, we highlight the main recent advances in the care of such patients including risk stratification,... read more

The Efficacy of ECMO for Severe ARDS

The H1N1 epidemic demonstrated that extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use in the most critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) resulted in a substantial decrease in mortality. The CESAR... read more

Start a Neonatal ECMO Program: A Multistep Team Training

The multistep extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) team training increased staff' knowledge, technical skills, teamwork, and self-confidence, allowing the successful development of a neonatal respiratory ECMO program.... read more