Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for postoperative cardiac support in children

Prolonged circulatory support for cardiac failure has been increasingly successful in adults but has had very limited use in children. From January 1982 to December 1985, 13 children with postoperative cardiac failure refractory to conventional therapy were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Ages ranged from 9 days to 17.6 years (mean = 3.8 years); weights ranged from 2.8 to 50 kg (mean = 13.8 kg). Seven patients had obstructive lesions of the right ventricle, such as pulmonary stenosis and tetralogy; the other patients had tricuspid atresia, truncus arteriosus, complete transposition, total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, pericardial tamponade, and a drug reaction after heart transplantation. One patient (nonsurvivor), who could not be separated from cardiopulmonary bypass, required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the operating room. In the remaining 12, the interval between operation and the start of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ranged from 9 to 50 hours (mean = 22.2 hours). Four patients were cannulated through the groin and nine through the chest. Peak flows ranged from 1.05 to 2.74 L/min/m2 (mean 1.92 L/min/m2). Duration of oxygenator support ranged from 12 hours to 9 days (mean = 3.4 days). Seven patients required reexploration for bleeding. Renal insufficiency developed in five patients, four of whom underwent hemodialysis or ultrafiltration during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Two patients had evidence of clots in the oxygenator circuit. Seven patients were weaned from extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Failure to wean from the oxygenator was related to neurologic sequelae of prolonged hypotension before institution of oxygenation in three patients. Mediastinitis developed in three of the seven patients who were weaned. One of these three died in the hospital 74 days after being weaned from the oxygenator. There has been one late death 6 months after oxygenator support was withdrawn. At most recent examination, five children were well, with normal cardiac function 7 months to 4.3 years postoperatively (mean = 32 months). This series suggests that profound cardiac insufficiency in children after cardiac operations can be successfully managed with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with excellent functional recovery, although major complications are common in this critically ill group of patients.