Neonatal and Pediatric exracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Abstract

In 1973 and 1975 the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) therapy was first successfully used in neonatal patients with cardiac and respiratory failure who were unresponsive to maximal therapy. ECMO allows the heart and/or lungs time to rest and heal, providing opportunity for recovery. ECMO is used in neonatal-pediatric areas as rescue therapy in over 1,200 patients with respiratory failure and about 750 patients with heart diseases every year, according to reports from the "Extracorporeal Life Support Organization" (ELSO). The best survival results in short and long term are achieved in patients with isolated respiratory diseases, becoming a standard therapy in high complexity referral centers. The first Chilean neonatal/pediatric ECMO program was started in the Catholic University Hospital in 2003, becoming the first program associated with ELSO in Latin America. In recent years, new neonatal-pediatric ECMO programs have been created in high complexity centers in several Latin AMerican countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile, which are now giving form to the ELSO Latin Aimerican Chapter. We hope that these new ECMO referral centers, associated to a better network management, positively impact the survival of infants and children with respiratory or cardiac failure and be available in the future to a greater number of patients in our region.