ECMO extracorporeal membrane oxygenation


VA ECMO

  • retrograde blood flow delivered up femoral artery and illiac system is increasing afterload against which LV has to pump
  • adding strain to already strained ventricle
  • If ventricle still have contractility, can fight against ECMO circuit
  • NS syndrome: blood going to brain is less oxygenated than blood going to distal peripheral
  • ecmo and LA venting
  • strategies to unload LV to help with pumping1


  • left: centrifugal pump. Blood comes in middle and spun outward
  • right: roller pump propels blood forward
  • N-S syndrome: mixture of blood from heart and from pump
  • put pulse ox on right hand because the right side will have least amount of good O2
  • if heart doesn’t pump at all, then flow from pump will make heart more distended over time
  • complications: everyone is going to bleed and have clots
    • limb ischemia
    • bleeding: head bleeds, major bleeds
    • neurologic insults
    • mechanical failure

2


To learn

  • ecmo insertion site
  • PROTEC ecmo
  • MCS vs ECMO

Footnotes

  1. CHEST Board Review Critical Care?

  2. 2025-08-07 critical care fellow lecture MCS