Recovery from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome with Long-Run Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Abstract

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe lung disease associated with high mortality despite recent advances in management. Significant advances in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) devices and management allow short-term support for patients with acute reversible respiratory failure and can serve as a bridge to transplantation in patients with irreversible respiratory failure. When ARDS does not respond to conventional treatment, ECMO and the interventional lung assist membrane (iLA) are the most widely used complementary treatment options. Here, we report a clinical case of an adult patient who required prolonged duration venovenous (VV)-ECMO for severe ARDS resulting in improvement while waiting for lung transplantation.

Keywords

• acute respiratory distress syndrome
• extracorporeal membrane oxygenation