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ECMO in newborn infants: The Melbourne experience
Author(s) -
BUTT W.,
MEE R.,
McDOUGAL P.,
HORTON A.,
SHANN F.,
HORTON S.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1992.tb02709.x
Subject(s) - medicine , extracorporeal membrane oxygenation , congenital diaphragmatic hernia , cardiorespiratory fitness , respiratory failure , pediatrics , diaphragmatic hernia , diaphragmatic breathing , hernia , surgery , fetus , pregnancy , alternative medicine , pathology , biology , genetics
At the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used in the treatment of newborn infants with life‐threatening respiratory or cardiac failure since May 1989. The main indications for the use of ECMO are that the disease is reversible, the surviving infant is likely to be normal and there is an 80% likelihood of death without ECMO. Sixteen of 22 (73%) newborn infants have survived at least 6 months after ECMO. Fourteen of 16 (87.5%) infants receiving ECMO (who did not have a congenital diaphragmatic hernia) were functionally normal survivors; the other two infants died. Two of six infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia who received ECMO were discharged and survived to have normal neurological and respiratory function at 6 month follow up. These results are similar to results from other centres internationally. It would appear that ECMO is a useful therapy for near‐term newborn infants with otherwise fatal cardiorespiratory failure.