Commentary on: successful use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for pulmonary embolism, prolonged cardiac arrest, post-partum: a cannulation dilemma.

Abstract

A 30-year-old female gravida 1 (37 weeks + 5 days gestation) underwent a crash Cesarean section for evidence of fetal distress, with the presumed diagnosis of placental abruption. Immediately post-op, the patient had a complete cardiovascular collapse with pulseless electrical activity, requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Two doses of thrombolytics (Tenecteplase) were administered during the resuscitation, with a presumed diagnosis of a pulmonary embolism. After approximately 45 minutes into the resuscitation, the cardiac surgery team was called to initiate extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).Case Study: Veno-arterial (V-A) ECMO was emergently attempted, with difficulty, through a left femoral cut-down approach and was successfully initiated 84 minutes into the resuscitation. Once the patient’s blood pressure and oxygen saturations were stabilized, the cannulae were switched to the right groin, using a Dacron graft in an end-to-side fashion. The left groin vessels were small and spasmodi...