Transatlantic veno-venous ECMO bridge for lung transplantation
J.P. van Gemert, MD,
J.M. Droogh, MD, PhD,
I. Finkenzeller, MD,
J.D. Botero Bahamon, MD,
C.T. Gan, MD, PhD,
D. Heise, MD,
R.P. van Steenwijk, MD,
J.D. Uribe Molano, MD,
R.A. Zapata Gonzalez, MD,
S.M. Kock, MD,
E.A.M. Verschuuren, MD, PhD,
A. Veldman, MD, PhD
Affiliations
J.P. van Gemert, MD
Department of Respiratory Diseases, Tuberculosis and Lung Transplantation, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands; Corresponding author: J.P. van Gemert, MD, Department of Respiratory Diseases, Tuberculosis and Lung transplantation, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB Groningen, the Netherlands.
J.M. Droogh, MD, PhD
Department of Critical Care, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
I. Finkenzeller, MD
Department of Anesthesiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
J.D. Botero Bahamon, MD
Department of Pulmonology, Clínica CardioVID, Medellín, Colombia
C.T. Gan, MD, PhD
Department of Respiratory Diseases, Tuberculosis and Lung Transplantation, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
D. Heise, MD
Department of Anesthesiology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
R.P. van Steenwijk, MD
Pulmonology Fundashon Mariadal Bonaire, dep of Pulmonology AmsterdamUMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
J.D. Uribe Molano, MD
Department of Critical Care, Clínica CardioVID, Medellín, Colombia
R.A. Zapata Gonzalez, MD
Department of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplantation, Clínica CardioVID, Medellín, Colombia
S.M. Kock, MD
Department of Pulmonology, Bonaire Hospital Fundashon Mariadal, Kralendijk, Bonaire, Caribbean, the Netherlands
E.A.M. Verschuuren, MD, PhD
Department of Respiratory Diseases, Tuberculosis and Lung Transplantation, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
A. Veldman, MD, PhD
Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; UNICAIR, Wiesbaden, Germany
This report details the challenging journey of a 58-year-old male with a progressive fibrotic lung disease who needed a lung transplantation (LTx). Residing on the remote island of St. Eustatius, access to specialized medical care was limited, but he was entitled to receive appropriate medical care in the Netherlands. Collaborative efforts among medical teams across the world resulted in a successful transatlantic transport of the patient on awake veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO) to the Netherlands. A successful LTx was performed without complications. This case shows that vv-ECMO flight transport, when conducted by an experienced team, is a safe procedure for highly selected lung transplant candidates.
