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Introduction: Commercial membrane lungs are designed to transfer a specific amount of oxygen per unit of venous blood flow. Membrane lungs are much more efficient at removing CO 2 than adding oxygen, but the range of CO 2 transfer is rarely reported. Methods: Commercial membrane lungs were studied with the goal of evaluating CO 2 removal capacity. CO 2 removal was measured in 4 commercial membrane lungs under standardized conditions. Conclusion: CO 2 clearance can be greater than 4 times that of oxygen at a given blood flow when the gas to blood flow ratio is elevated to 4:1 or 8:1. The CO 2 clearance was less dependent on surface area and configuration than oxygen transfer. Any ECMO system can be used for selective CO 2 removal.
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Sun et al. (2017) studied this question.
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