Echocardiography, not chest radiography, for evaluation of cannula placement during pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
OBJECTIVE
Optimal cannula position is essential during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We hypothesize that echocardiography is superior to chest radiography in diagnosing abnormal cannula position during ECMO.


METHODS
Retrospective.


METHODS
Pediatric hospital.


METHODS
100 pediatric patients requiring ECMO.


RESULTS
We reviewed the medical records of all ECMO patients (n = 100), including reports of all echocardiograms (n = 326), during the years 2002-2004. Of the 91 patients who had echocardiograms while on ECMO, 33 had at least 1 echocardiogram for cannula-position evaluation. Of the remaining 58 patients with echocardiograms for reasons other than cannula-position evaluation, 4 (7%) were found to have abnormal cannula position. These included arterial cannula (AC) within 2-4 mm of the aortic valve (n = 2), AC across the aortic valve into the left ventricle (n = 1), and venous cannula (VC) abutting the atrial septum (n = 1). Of the 33 patients with echocardiograms for evaluation of cannula position, 8 (24%) required intervention. Of those 8 patients, 4 required cannula repositioning due to VC in the coronary sinus (n = 1), VC abutting atrial septum (n = 1), AC in left subclavian artery (n = 1), and AC within 3 mm of aortic valve (n = 1). The remaining 4 with normal cannula position required upsizing of the VC (n = 2), increased circuit flow (n = 1), or intravascular volume administration (n = 1). Overall, 12 of 91 patients (13%) required intervention based on echocardiographic findings. Chest radiography did not detect abnormalities of ECMO cannula position in any of the 8 patients with this problem, nor were any additional patients with abnormal cannula position identified by chest radiography.


CONCLUSIONS
Echocardiography appears to be superior to chest radiography for assessing ECMO cannula position in our institution. A prospective study, including cost analysis, comparing chest radiography and echocardiography, is needed to definitely determine the preferred diagnostic test or sequence of tests to establish ECMO cannula position.
Thomas
Timothy H
TH
Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA. timthomasgt@yahoo.com
Price
Ryan
R
Ramaciotti
Claudio
C
Thompson
Marita
M
Megison
Steve
S
Lemler
Matthew S
MS
D000293:Adolescent; D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000628:therapy; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult