Regional cerebral oxygenation measured by multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy (optical topography) in an infant supported on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Abstract

In the current era of advanced cardiac surgery and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), there are serious limitations with inadequate neuromonitoring, misleading neuromonitoring, or both, especially in the setting of hemodilution and nonpulsatile flow.1 Multimodal neurological monitoring is available and advocated in certain centers.2 However, the implications of neurological monitoring with relevance to neurodevelopmental outcome have not been clearly delineated. As a result, there is equipoise about routine neuromonitoring, particularly with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and the relevance of data.3