Heart transplant remains the criterion standard treatment for patients in end-stage heart failure. Improvement in the post-heart transplant outcomes in the last decade has contributed to increased demand for organs. Worldwide each year, more than 5000 heart transplants are performed and 50,000 people become candidates for heart transplant. In the last 50 years, there have been several attempts to expand donor criteria to increase the donor pool. Despite making hepatitis C virus, opioid overdose death, old age allowable and changing the allocation system, the gap between supply and demand is widening and unfortunately, thousands die every year waiting due to the critical shortage of organs. New technologies for heart donation after circulatory death have emerged, particularly normothermic regional organ perfusion and ex-vivo heart perfusion using organ care systems. However, these technologies still do not fill the gap. Continuous advancements in areas such as regenerative medicine and xenotransplantation, among others, are needed to overcome the shortage of heart donors for heart transplantation.

In the United States, ~100,000 patients are hospitalized annually for cardiogenic shock with 27–51% mortality. Similarly, ~356,000 patients develop out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) annually with 90% mortality. In the last few decades, several acute mechanical circulatory support (AMCS) devices have been developed to provide hemodynamic support and to improve outcomes in patients with cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest. Among all the devices, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is the only AMCS device that provides immediate and complete cardiopulmonary support. With an increase in clinical experience with VA-ECMO, use of VA-ECMO has expanded beyond post-cardiotomy cardiogenic shock. In the last two decades, there has also been a rapid growth in the observational and randomized data describing the clinical and logistical considerations with successful clinical outcomes in patients with cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest. In this review, we discuss the fundamental concepts and hemodynamic aspects of VA-ECMO, its indications, contraindications, and the complications that are encountered in the setting of VA-ECMO in patients with cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock of various etiologies.