Successful rescue therapy with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for re-expansion pulmonary oedema in a patient with one lung

W Hampton Gray; Amy E Hackmann; Vaughn A Starnes; Armin Kiankhooy

doi:10.1093/ejcts/ezy262

Successful rescue therapy with venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for re-expansion pulmonary oedema in a patient with one lung

Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019 Mar 1;55(3):582-584. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezy262.

Authors

W Hampton Gray¹, Amy E Hackmann¹, Vaughn A Starnes¹, Armin Kiankhooy¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 30084903
DOI: 10.1093/ejcts/ezy262

Abstract

Re-expansion pulmonary oedema following the drainage of pleural fluid is rare. We report a patient with 1 lung who developed life-threatening re-expansion pulmonary oedema following thoracentesis and was rescued with venovenous (VV) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), surviving to discharge 28 days later. An aggressive early rescue therapy with VV ECMO should be pursued for all types of acute lung injury regardless of patient age, comorbidities or transplant candidacy, given the likelihood of native lung recovery following ECMO support.

Keywords: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO); Re-expansion pulmonary oedema.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Aged
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / surgery
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation* / methods
Female
Humans
Lung Neoplasms / surgery
Pneumonectomy*
Postoperative Complications / therapy*
Pulmonary Edema / therapy*
Veins