title: Pulmonary embolism and myocardial hypoxia during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
abstract: The treatment of a newborn with severe meconium aspiration by venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was complicated by myocardial hypoxia with a marked decrease of myocardial contractility. The onset of the cardiac hypoxia was related to a pulmonary artery embolus. The origin of the embolus was a deep femoral vein thrombosis, caused by a central vein catheter, which was inserted 1 day before ECMO by venous cutdown. The possible pathophysiology of myocardial hypoxia in this patient is discussed, especially with regard to myocardial perfusion, supporting the hypothesis of coronary perfusion occuring with blood from the left ventricle and not from the arterial cannula in the aorta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Benjamin Franklin University Hospital, Free University of Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kössel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bartsch
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Philippi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eyrich
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waldschmidt
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Versmold
mesh_terms: D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation; D005268:Femoral Vein; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008471:Meconium Aspiration Syndrome / Q000628:therapy; D017682:Myocardial Stunning / Q000209:etiology*; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000209:etiology*; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology