Extracorporeal circulatory systems as a bridge to lung transplantation at remote transplant centers

Ambulatory venovenous extracorporeal respiratory support as a bridge for cystic fibrosis patients to emergent lung transplantation

“…Although ECMO is now a recognized treatment in PGD, its use as a "bridge" to lung transplantation has been sporadic with mixed outcomes [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. More recently, Haneya and colleagues reported successful outcomes with the selected use of different extracorporeal circulatory systems, including VA or VV ECMO and pumpless extracorporeal lung assist (PECLA), also known as arterio-venous CO2 removal (AVCO 2 R), as a bridge to lung transplantation [17]. The investigators changed from one extracorporeal circulatory systems modality to another modality based on the clinical status of the patients [17].…”

Influence of age on survival in adult patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation before lung transplantation

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In the larger reported experiences, success of ECMO as a bridge to LTx varied between 25% and 81%, whereas 1-year survival rates afterward ranged from 60% to 92%. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] With the majority of studies being single-center experiences, ECMO before LTx remains controversial. 14 ECMO before LTx in children is even less established, [15][16][17][18] but a recent study 19 reported that ECMO before LTx in pediatric patients did not negatively impact survival.…”

Contemporary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for adult respiratory failure: life support in the new era

“…Nonetheless, the improvements in ECMO technology have allowed some centres to use ambulatory ECMO or other extracorporeal devices to liberate patients from mechanical ventilation and successfully bridge them to lung transplantation [58,[71][72][73][74]. Whether it will ever be feasible to safely use fully implantable, miniaturized respiratory devices as destination therapy remains an open question at present [75].…”