Cannulation Strategy and ECMO management
Our ECMO strategy and management is described
previously10. The Cardiohelp system (Maquet, Wayne,
NJ) was the primary circuit used in our institution but CentriMag or
Rotaflow pump was rarely used. In brief, femoral vessel cannulation was
usually preferred for all cardiogenic shock patients throughout the
study period, however central cannulation was typically used for
post-cardiotomy circumstances or when peripheral arterial sites were
inaccessible, and axillary cannulation used when femoral arteries were
inaccessible or when the axillary artery is cut-down for other purposes.
ECMO was managed by multidisciplinary team. Patients were classified
based on initial arterial cannulation site.