Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy is used as supportive therapy for patients with respiratory failure, cardiac failure, and cardiopulmonary failure. Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) is one subtype used for respiratory failure as a supportive treatment for critically ill patients. The principle behind it is that the membrane lung (oxygenator) is placed sequentially with the normal lungs rather than in parallel like with cardiopulmonary bypass, therefore, the lungs do not have to work as hard to oxygenate the blood. Then using a drainage cannula, blood is drained from the right atrium (RA) and after going through the membrane lung, the newly oxygenated blood is returned back to the RA. Because of this, there is enough systemic oxygen delivery to manage metabolism and preserve the airway even at lower tidal volume ventilation settings. With ventilator settings placed at lower tidal volume, there is less risk of barotrauma. This is a review article discussing VV-ECMO therapy with adult patients. It will also go into detail regarding its indications, contraindications, configurations, patient assessment, vascular access, and complications.
Bronchogenic and other duplication cysts are congenital abnormalities that can present at any age including adulthood years. They are usually asymptomatic and discovered incidentally on radiological imaging of the chest. They are commonly treated by surgical resection. Recently, endobronchial ultrasound has been used to assist in diagnosis when radiologic imaging is not definitive. Endobronchial ultrasound has been used rarely to drain infected cysts, a rare complication of the bronchogenic cyst. We present a unique case of an infected large bronchogenic cyst treated with endobronchial ultrasound drainage combined with conservative medical therapy. We also review the scarce available literature describing such an approach and its potential complications and add recommendations based on our experience in managing these anomalies.
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