title: Veno-venous ECMO as a safe bridge to recovery in a patient with severe peripartum cardiomyopathy - learning from errors.
abstract: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare disorder of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. The most important tool for diagnostic confirmation is transthoracic echocardiography. The recommended management of PPCM in pregnancy is summarized by the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Guidelines. Few data exist on the treatment of patients with fulminant PPCM and the need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in this context. We report on a young multiparous woman with cardiogenic shock caused by severe PPCM who was successfully, but atypically, supported with veno-venous ECMO as a bridge to recovery immediately after the birth of her third child.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General and Trauma Surgery, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ull
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of General and Trauma Surgery, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas Armin
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Schildhauer
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Justus T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Strauch
authors.affiliation: 3 Dept. of Cardiology, BG University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Bürkle-de-la-Camp-Platz 1, 44789 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mügge
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, HELIOS Frankenwaldklinik Kronach, 96317 Kronach, Germany.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058725:Peripartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy
keywords: amniotic fluid embolism; peripartum cardiomyopathy; transfusion-related acute lung injury; veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation