HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Broomé, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Broomé, M. Related Collections Related Article

---

Correspondence

Reply

ECMO Centre, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, SE-17177 Sweden

(Email: michael.broome{at}karolinska.se).

To the Editor:

We thank Puehler and coauthors [1] for their interest in our case history [2]. We read with great interest about the development of pump-less artificial lungs suitable for bridging patients to lung transplantation and congratulate the team in Regensburg for their successful 62-day bridging of the 38-year-old female patient with pulmonary hypertension.

With further reduction of thrombogenicity and safe routines for fast emergency exchange of the oxygenator, the pump-less mode of lung support definitively is advantageous for mobile patients. It is doubtful, however, if this method would have helped our patient, who had a systemic inflammatory disorder with multiple severe septic episodes and was almost without any native lung function at all during most of the 47-day extracorporeal membrane oxygenation run. Our patient was mostly awake and lucid, but the lack of native lung function was obvious when we changed components in the ECMO circuit, whereby the patient deoxygenated and circulatory collapse ensued within seconds after stopping the flow. According to our experience, it is mandatory in this situation to use a support system that can be easily exchanged within less than a few minutes, including an option to support the circulation if needed. We therefore think that for safety reasons, the pump-less extracorporeal lung assist system currently only is suitable for patients with a substantial residual lung function.

	References

Top References

 

1. Puehler T, Philipp A, Schmid C. Paracorporeal artificial lung circuit as a possibility for bridge to lung transplantation (letter) Ann Thorac Surg 2009;88:352.[Free Full Text]
2. Broomé M, Palmér K, Scherstén H, Frenckner B, Nilsson F. Prolonged extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and circulatory support as bridge to lung transplant Ann Thorac Surg 2008;86:1357-1360.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Broomé, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Broomé, M. Related Collections Related Article