During the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been controversy over whether emergency surgical management should be performed or not in the patients with COVID-19. Stanford type A aortic dissection is a very urgent life-threatening disease, and guidelines recommend surgical treatment for patients with type A aortic dissection in the first instance. However, intraoperative extracorporeal circulation can be fatal to patients recovering from COVID-19. During the pandemic, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has played an important role in supporting COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure. This article reports a successful V-V ECMO treatment for a Stanford type A aortic dissection patient, who suffered respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 after emergency surgery.
ObjectiveTo describe the outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for patients after aortic surgery and to summarize the experience. Methods The clinical data of patients who received ECMO support after aortic surgery in Fuwai Hospital from 2009 to 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients who received an aortic dissection surgery were allocated into a dissection group, and the other patients were allocated into a non-dissection group. The in-hospital and follow-up survival rates were compared between the two groups, and the causes of death were analyzed. ResultsA total of 22 patients were enrolled, including 17 patients in the dissection group [13 males and 4 females, with a median age of 54 (46, 61) years] and 5 patients in the non-dissection group [3 males and 2 females, with a median age of 51 (41, 65) years]. There was no statistical difference in the age and gender between the two groups (P>0.05). The in-hospital survival rate (11.8% vs. 100.0%, P=0.001) and follow-up survival rate (11.8% vs. 80.0%, P=0.009) of the patients in the dissection group were significantly lower than those in the non-dissection group. The causes of death in the dissection group included massive bleeding and disseminated intravascular coagulation (3 patients), ventricular thrombosis (1 patient), irreversible brain injury (2 patients), visceral malperfusion syndrome (4 patients) and irreversible heart failure (5 patients). ConclusionECMO after aortic dissection surgery is associated with high mortality, which is related to the pathological features of aortic dissection and severely disrupted coagulation system after the surgery. For these patients, strict indication selection and optimal management strategy are important.
目的 分析股动静脉插管在体外膜肺氧合（extracorporeal membrane oxygenation，ECMO）抢救治疗中的临床应用。方法 回顾性分析笔者所在医院2002 年6 月至2010年7 月期间因重症心肺功能衰竭而施行股动静脉插管并进行静脉-动脉转流体外膜肺氧合（VA-ECMO）抢救的47例患者的临床资料。结果 本组47例患者均顺利施行ECMO支持，37例患者经过治疗后治愈出院，10例死亡。插管并发症有出血、肢体缺血等，均经相应处理后治愈。结论 ECMO对急性心肺衰竭是理想的支持方法，股动静脉为急救插管的首选通道。
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), as an extracorporeal life support technology, can provide respiratory support and hemodynamic support according to different modes. The significant advantages of ECMO in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome and the development of its oxygenator, pump, and heparin-coated circuits have promoted its application and exploration in thoracic surgery. ECMO can be used during the perioperative period of lung transplantation and can be applied for patients who cannot maintain one-lung ventilation, or have a high risk of anesthesia, or undergo complex thoracic surgery involving trachea, carina, mediastinum and esophagus. This article will review the application and progress of ECMO in general thoracic surgery.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a critical life support technique for patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure. Establishing a stable ECMO animal model is essential to further investigate the effects of ECMO on the body and provide assistance for optimizing ECMO management strategies and preventing complications in clinical practice. In recent years, rats have been widely used to establish ECMO models due to their low cost and good reproducibility. Therefore, this article provided a comprehensive review of literature on the ECMO rat model, including equipment and experimental management strategies. It offers a theoretical foundation for the development of a stable and mature ECMO rat model in the future.
ObjectiveTo explore the construction of heart preservation model of empty beating donor based on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). MethodsFrom January 2022 to August 2023, 20 Guangxi Bama miniature pigs weighing 25-30 kg were selected, half male and half female. Under general anesthesia and heparinization, a midline thoracotomy was performed. The pericardium was cut after freeing the anterior and posterior vena cavae, and a perfusion needle was inserted near the brachiocephalic artery in the ascending aorta, connected to a blood collection bag to collect 500-600 mL of blood. The anterior and posterior vena cavae were ligated, the aorta was blocked and perfused with HTK solution to stop the heart beating. The superior and inferior vena cavae were cut off, the right pulmonary vein was decompressed, the aorta and left and right pulmonary arteries and veins were cut off, and the whole heart was removed. An ECMO device was used to continuously perfuse a cardioprotective solution mainly composed of oxygenated warm blood, maintaining the isolated pig heart beating for 8 hours, monitoring (once/hour) ECMO perfusion parameters, blood gas indicators, perfusate electrolytes, detecting inflammatory factors, myocardial enzymes, myoglobin, and troponin levels. Myocardial tissue was taken for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining to observe myocardial cell damage and evaluate the quality of heart preservation. ResultsAmong the 20 isolated beating preservation pig hearts, 17 successfully resumed beating, 3 experienced ventricular fibrillation, resuscitated after intracardiac electrical defibrillation, and all 20 pig hearts successfully beat for 8 hours. There was no statistical difference in ECMO perfusion parameters, blood gas indicators, perfusate electrolytes, and inflammatory factors at each time point (P>0.05). There were statistical increases in myocardial enzymes, myoglobin, and troponin levels (P<0.05). HE staining results suggested that there was no severe myocardial damage. ConclusionECMO technology can be used for pig heart preservation with good results, and this study provides experimental evidence for improving heart preservation research in clinical heart transplantation.
Although the survival rate reported in each center is different, according to the present studies, compared to conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CCPR), extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) can improve the survival rate of cardiac arrest patient, no matter out-of-hospital or in-hospital. The obvious advantage of ECPR is that it can reduce the nervous system complications in the cardiac arrest patients and improve survival rate to hospital discharge. However, ECPR is expensive and without the uniformed indications for implantation. The prognosis for patients with ECPR support is also variant due to the different etiology. If we want to achieve better result, the ECPR technology itself needs to be further improved.