Preoperative Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Slashes Risk Score in Advanced Structural Heart Disease.

CONCLUSIONS: ECMO can be used as a bridge to heart valve or septal defect surgery in severely decompensated patients. Through recovery of end-organ function, ECMO may allow surgical correction of structural heart disease in patients considered inoperable or convert a salvage situation to an elective operation. PMID: 30236527 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery - Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Authors: Tags: Ann Thorac Surg Source Type: research