Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2025 Aug 1;71(8):660-666.
doi: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002371. Epub 2025 Jan 16.

Early Use Experience of the Crescent Right Atrial Cannula for Neonatal Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Michael Sobolic  1 , Yujin Park  1 , Sharada H Gowda  2 , Nicholas R Carr  3 , Rachel Chapman  4 , Annie Chi  5 , Goeto Dantes  6 , Vedanta Dariya  7 , Daniel R Dirnberger  8 , Caraciolo J Fernandes  2 , Shannon Hamrick  9 , Swosti Joshi  10 , Sarah Keene  9 , Allison Linden  6 , Abhishek Makkar  7 , Ogechukwu Menkiti  10 , Franscesca Miquel-Verges  11 , Vilmaris Quinones-Cardona  10 , Rakesh Rao  12 , Ricardo J Rodriguez  13 , Ruth Seabrook  13 , Patrick Sloan  12 , Denise Suttner  14 , Mark F Weems  15 , Leslie Lusk  16 , Natalie Rintoul  17 , Robert DiGeronimo  18 , Brian W Gray  1 ; CHNC ECMO Focus Group
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Early Use Experience of the Crescent Right Atrial Cannula for Neonatal Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Michael Sobolic et al. ASAIO J. .

Abstract

Veno-venous (VV) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is associated with fewer neurological complications and decreased mortality compared to veno-arterial (VA) ECMO in neonatal respiratory failure. The Crescent right atrial (RA) cannula is the only dual-lumen cannula for neonatal VV ECMO designed to have the tip in the right atrium. The purpose of this study is to describe the experience with early use of the Crescent RA cannula. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 58 neonates and infants cannulated from September 2021 through August 2023 at 15 institutions represented within the Children's Hospital Neonatal Consortium (CHNC) ECMO Focus Group. Members provided information on patient characteristics, ECMO runs, complications, and outcomes. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Imaging was used during cannulation in 79.3% of cases. Survival to discharge was 84.5%. There was one major cannula-related complication resulting in death. The most common complication was cannula malposition in 46.6% of patients, requiring surgical repositioning in 29.3% of the total cohort. Early use experience with the Crescent RA cannula suggests that it is effective and safe in most patients, but the cannula may require repositioning to achieve optimal ECMO support or if malpositioned. Based on these observations, we developed recommendations for cannulation and cannula surveillance.

Keywords: CHNC; ECMO; VV ECMO; cannula; crescent; dual-lumen; neonatal; pediatric; right atrial; veno-venous.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: B.W.G. serves as an educational consultant for Medtronic, Inc.; S.K. serves as an educational consultant for Medtronic, Inc. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

References

    1. Jenks CL, Raman L, Dalton HJ: Pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Crit Care Clin 33: 825–841, 2017.
    1. Lin G, Li Y, Zhuang Y, Fan Q, Luo Y, Zeng H: Seizures in children undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pediatr Res 93: 755–762, 2023.
    1. Gancar JL, Shields MC, Christian Walters K, Wise L, Waller JL, Stansfield BK: Cannulation approach and mortality in neonatal ECMO. J Perinatol 43: 196–202, 2023.
    1. Andrews AF, Klein MD, Toomasian JM, Roloff DW, Bartlett RH: Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in neonates with respiratory failure. J Pediatr Surg 18: 339–346, 1983.
    1. Zwischenberger JB, Toomasian JM, Drake K, Andrews AF, Kolobow T, Bartlett RH: Total respiratory support with single cannula venovenous ECMO: Double lumen continuous flow vs. single lumen tidal flow. Trans Am Soc Artif Intern Organs 31: 610–615, 1985.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources