The aim of this study was to determine the early outcomes of using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in near-drowning patients with cardiac or pulmonary failure. This study was based on data from 9 patients including 2 children (mean age 33; 8 males, 1 female) who received ECMO after near-drowning between 2008 and 2013. Veno-arterial or veno-arteriovenous ECMO was used in 2 patients with sustained cardiac arrest and veno-venous ECMO was used in 7 patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The means of the partial arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2), Murray score, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, and simplified acute physiology score II (SAPS-II) prior to ECMO were 59.7 ± 9.9 mmHg on 100% oxygen, 3.5 ± 0.6, 11.4 ± 1.9, and 73.0 ± 9.2, respectively. The PaO2 mean improved to 182 ± 152 mmHg within 2 h post-ECMO. The mean of SOFA score and SAPS-II decreased significantly to 8.6 ± 3.2 (p = 0.013) and 46.4 ± 5.1 (p = 0.008), respectively, at 24 h post-ECMO with mean flow rate of 3.9 ± 0.8 l/min. ECMO was weaned at a mean duration of 188 (range, 43–672) h in all patients. Seven patients were discharged home without neurological sequelae, while 2 patients who had hypoxic brain damage died after further referral. The overall survival with favourable neurological outcomes at 3 months was 77.8%. There were no complications related to ECMO. ECMO was safe and effective for patients with ongoing cardiac arrest or ARDS after a near-drowning incident and can be used as a resuscitative strategy in near-drowning patients with cardiac or pulmonary failure resistant to conventional ventilator therapy.

In the emergency department (ED), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be used as a rescue treatment modality for patients with refractory circulatory and/or respiratory failure. Serious consideration must be given to the indication, and the PRESERVE and RESP scores for mortality have been investigated. However these scores were validated to predict survival in patients who received mainly veno-venous (VV) ECMO in the intensive care unit. The aim of the present study was to investigate the factors that predicted the outcomes for patients who received mixed mode (veno-arterial [VA] and VV) ECMO support in the ED. This single center retrospective study included 65 patients who received ECMO support at the ED for circulatory or respiratory failure between January 2009 and December 2013. Pre-ECMO SAPS II and other variables were evaluated and compared for predicting mortality. Fifty-four percent of patients received ECMO-cardiopulmonary resuscitation (E-CPR), 31 % received VA and V-AV ECMO, and 15 % received VV ECMO. The 28-day and 60-month mortality rates were 52 % and 63 %. In the multivariate analysis, only the pre-ECMO Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) (odd ratio: 1.189, 95 % confidence interval: 1.032–1.370, p = 0.016) could predict the 28-day mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and the optimal cutoff value for pre-ECMO SAPS II in predicting 28-day mortality was 0.852 (95 % CI: 0.753–0.951, p < 0.001) and 80 (sensitivity of 97.1 % and specificity of 71.0 %), respectively. Validation of the 80 cutoff value revealed a statistically significant difference for the 28-day and 60-month mortality rates in the overall, E-CPR, and VA groups (28-day: p < 0.001, p = 0.004, p = 0.005; 60-month: p < 0.001, p = 0.004, p = 0.020). In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, the 28-day and 60-month survival rates were lower among the patients with a pre-ECMO SAPS II of ≤80, compared to those with a score of >80 (both, p < 0.001). The pre-ECMO SAPS II could be helpful for identifying patients with refractory acute circulatory and/or respiratory failure who will respond to ECMO support in the ED.

Lee HK, et al. Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2012 Aug;45(4):257-259. http://dx.doi.org/10.5090/kjtcs.2012.45.4.257

The aim of this study was to determine the long-term outcomes of surgical angioplasty for left main coronary artery (SA-LMCA) stenosis. We retrospectively analyzed data from 24 consecutive patients (mean age, 55 years; male/female, 12/12) who underwent a surgical angioplasty for the left main coronary artery (LMCA) stenosis at our institution between 1995 and 2002. We used autologous pericardium in 7 patients and bovine pericardium in 17 patients as a patch. We evaluated the late mortality and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rate. There was no operative mortality. Control coronary angiography exhibited wide open and funnel-shaped LMCA in all patients. One patient was lost to follow-up. During the mean follow-up of 167 months, there were 3 sudden cardiac deaths, 4 non-cardiac related deaths, and 9 MACE with one death at reoperation. The Kaplan-Meier method identified freedom from cardiac death in 95.7, 87.0, and 82.4% of the patients, and freedom from MACE in 91.3, 69.6, and 57.7% of the patients at 5, 10, and 15 years, respectively. This study demonstrated that the long-term outcomes of SA-LMCA with a pericardial patch are acceptable compared to those of coronary artery bypass grafting, despite the controversy over the indications and the patch material used.

Infective endocarditis is associated with not only cardiac complications but also neurologic, renal, musculoskeletal, and systemic complications related to the infection, such as embolization, metastatic infection, and mycotic aneurysm. We report three cases (the first patient is Chinese and the other two are Koreans) of complicated infective endocarditis; two of the cases were associated with a mycotic aneurysm, and one case was associated with a splenic abscess. One case of a patient with prosthetic valve endocarditis was complicated by intracerebral hemorrhage caused by mycotic aneurysm rupture. A second case of a patient with right-sided valve endocarditis associated with a central catheter was complicated by an abdominal aortic mycotic aneurysm. The third patient had a splenic infarction and abscess associated with infected cardiac thrombi. Complicated infective endocarditis is rare and is associated with cardiac, neurologic, renal, musculoskeletal, and systemic complications related to infection, such as embolization, metastatic infection, and mycotic aneurysm. Infective endocarditis caused by Staphylococcus aureus is more frequently associated with complications. Because the mortality rate increases when complications develop, aggressive antibiotic therapy and surgery, combined with specific treatments for the complications, are necessary.

Background and Objectives: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be helpful in patients with cardiogenic shock associated with myocardial infarction, and its early use can improve the patient survival rate. In this study, we report a mortality rate-difference analysis that examined the time and location of shock occurrence. Materials and Methods: We enrolled patients who underwent ECMO due to cardiogenic shock related to myocardial infarction and assigned them to either a pre- or post-admission shock group. The primary outcome was the 1-month mortality rate; a subgroup analysis was conducted to assess the effect of bailout ECMO. Results: Of the 113 patients enrolled, 67 (38 with pre-admission shock, 29 with post-admission shock) were analysed. Asystole was more frequently detected in the pre-admission shock group than in the post-admission group. In both groups, the commonest culprit lesion location was in the left anterior descending artery. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed significantly more frequently and earlier in the pre-admission group. The 1-month mortality rate was significantly lower in the pre-admission group than in the post-admission group. Male sex and ECMO duration (≥6 days) were factors significantly related to the reduced mortality rate in the pre-admission group. In the subgroup analysis, the mortality rate was lower in patients receiving bailout ECMO than in those not receiving it; the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: ECMO application resulted in lower short-term mortality rate among patients with out-of-hospital cardiogenic shock onset than with in-hospital shock onset; early cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ECMO might be helpful in select patients.