Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for Hypothermic Cardiac Deterioration: A Case Series

Abstract

Accidental hypothermia can lead to untoward cardiac manifestations and arrest. This report presents a case series of severe accidental hypothermia with cardiac complications in three emergency patients who were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and survived after re-warming. The aim of this discussion was to encourage more clinicians to consider ECMO as a re-warming therapy for severe hypothermia with circulatory collapse and to prompt discussion about decreasing the barriers to its use. Niehaus MT , Pechulis RM , Wu JK , Frei S , Hong JJ , Sandhu RS , Greenberg MR . Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for hypothermic cardiac deterioration: a case series. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(5):570-571.

Keywords: CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation; ECMO; ECMO extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; ED emergency department; EMS Emergency Medical Services; GCS Glasgow Coma Scale; VA veno-arterial; VF ventricular fibrillation; VV veno-venous; hypothermia; resuscitation.