title: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in severe hypoxemia: time for reappraisal?
abstract: In 2009, during the influenza A (H1N1) epidemic, there were many reported cases of pulmonary infection with severe hypoxemia that was refractory to the ventilatory strategies and rescue therapies commonly used to treat patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Many of those cases were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which renewed international interest in the technique. The Extracorporeal Support Study Group was created in order to practice ECMO and to employ it in the treatment of patients with severe hypoxemia. In this article, we discuss the indications for using ECMO and report the case of a patient with refractory hypoxemia who was successfully treated with ECMO.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo (SP) Brasil.
authors.forename: Luciano Cesar Pontes
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eduardo Leite Vieira
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Edzângela Vasconcelos
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: Leandro Utino
authors.initials: LU
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Guilherme de Paula Pinto
authors.initials: Gde P
authors.lastname: Schettino
authors.forename: Marcelo Brito Passos
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Amato
authors.forename: Carlos Roberto Ribeiro
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003663:Decision Trees; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000150:complications; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000628:therapy*