Why the study?
Patients receiving venoarterial ECMO for cardiogenic shock are prone to intracardiac thrombus, which carries a high risk of in-hospital mortality.
Introduces a novel bronchoscope-guided technique for retrieving left ventricular thrombi in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
May offer a retrieval option in select ECMO patients; leaves open the need for prospective validation before clinical use.
Every year approximately 2500 patients in the United States receive venoarterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for cardiogenic shock.1 In cases of low contractility, intraventricular stasis, or inadequate anticoagulation, patients are prone to developing intracardiac thrombus. In the largest study to date on rates of thrombus formation during peripheral VA ECMO, of 281 patients in a tertiary care center, 4% had thrombus formation, and in all cases this eventually resulted in in-hospital mortality.
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Perri et al. (2022) studied this question.
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