Successful Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation After a Challenging Cannulation in a Pregnant Patient With COVID-19

Abstract

Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) support for fulminant COVID-19 pneumonia in a person with a viable pregnancy is controversial because many experts recommend delivery of the fetus before maternal ECMO. We describe V-V ECMO use for COVID-19 in a pregnant person at 28 weeks gestation. An inability to pass a guidewire from the jugular vein to the inferior vena cava complicated bedside ECMO cannulation, mandating a jugular-femoral 2-cannula approach that involves risk near a gravid uterus. In this case, procedural flexibility and multispecialty collaboration led to good maternal and fetal outcomes after 6 days of ECMO support.