ECMO is necessary for children and adults with severe, reversible lung and/or heart disease which are not responding to the standards of treatment. These standard forms of treatment include: mechanical ventilation, increased oxygenation and medications. Patients with severe heart failure prior to or following heart surgery would be candidates for ECMO. Even though ECMO is not a treatment, it can provide the time needed to allow the heart and lungs to improve with rest.
ECMO is used to help babies with a wide variety of medical challenges, including:
- Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension
- Meconium Aspiration Syndrome
- Sepsis or infection
- Pneumonia
- Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
- Congenital Heart Disease / Post-op Shock Lung
- Hyaline Membrane Disease.
ECMO is also used for older children suffering from the following conditions:
- Post-op Cardiac Repair
- Myocarditis
- Sepsis
- Pneumonia
- Aspiration Pneumonia
- Asthma
- Near Drowning
- Hydrocarbon Ingestion (lighter fluid, turpentine)
In adults, ECMO may be indicated for:
- Underlying disease with reasonable likelihood of reversal
- Septic Shock
- Pneumonia
- Pulmonary Failure
Additional Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Resources
Miami Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation -
What is ECMO? -
History of ECMO -
Candidates for ECMO -
Physiology -
Weaning -
Complications -
Apheresis LifeFlight Rapid Response Team Meet the PCCM Team