Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Optimal Organ Donation

• Main Authors: Jeong Hoon Yang, Yang Hyun Cho, Chi Ryang Chung, Kyeongman Jeon, Chi Min Park, Gee Young Suh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Society of Critical Care Medicine 2014-08-01
• Series: Korean Journal of Critical Care Medicine
• Subjects: brain death; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
• Online Access: http://www.kjccm.org/upload/pdf/kjccm-2014-29-3-194.pdf

We report a case of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support for donor organ preservation in a brain-dead patient following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. A 43-year-old male patient was referred to the emergency department after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation. Spontaneous circulation was restored after 8 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ECMO was implemented because of hemodynamic deterioration. The patient then underwent coronary angiography and was implanted with a drug-eluting stent because of occlusion at the proximal portion of the right coronary artery. After 144 hours, brain death was established, and ECMO support for optimal oxygen delivery was sustained until organ retrieval after consent for donation was received from the family. Liver and kidneys were successfully transplanted to three recipients, respectively.