If the new type of lung disease Covid-19 takes a severe course, lung failure can result. Then doctors use the so-called ECMO.
- Depending on the general condition of a person, infection with coronaviruses can be mild and trigger symptoms that resemble flu.
- However, the novel lung disease Covid-19 can have life-threatening effects for older and already pre-ill people *.
- In an emergency, ECMO therapy is used.
Coronavirus infection can trigger pneumonia, which can result in lung failure. The lung tissue is damaged in such a way that the organ can no longer perform its vital task: enrich our blood with oxygen and at the same time ensure that we exhale carbon dioxide through gas exchange. If the lungs are no longer able to do this, patients need intensive medical care - ventilation is necessary . However, in very few cases, this measure is not sufficient; doctors must initiate extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also called extracorporeal lung support (ECLA).
ECMO for lung and heart failure: when doctors initiate them
ECMO therapy is used for heart-lung failure, as the Aachen University Clinic informs. The procedure supports or takes over the heart and lung function. ECMO is used in an emergency: when the lungs or heart are severely damaged * and no other treatment, such as the administration of medication or conventional artificial respiration, promises to be more effective. The patient's blood is enriched with oxygen outside the body.
ECMO is used in the following cases :
- Respiratory failure (e.g. due to a severe infection of the lungs)
- Severe pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs)
- Heart failure (cardiogenic shock)
Read also : This is how doctors have to decide the fate of coronavirus patients when beds become tight .
How does ECMO work?
"An ECMO device is a special oxygenator, more precisely a membrane oxygenator, which technically resembles a heart-lung machine. With the help of a pump, a defined amount of blood per minute is continuously pumped out of the patient's body through a membrane oxygenator via a large vascular catheter. This oxygenator replaces gas exchange in the lungs: it removes carbon dioxide from the blood and enriches it with oxygen, " informs the University Hospital Aachen on its website. After passing through the oxygenator, the processed blood returns to the patient's bloodstream via another large vascular catheter.
In adults, three to five liters of blood per minute are drained from the body in this way . If the patient's state of health improves, the amount is throttled so that the heart and lungs can again take on the task of gas exchange. In a video from George Washington University Hospital, chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery Keith Mortman explains the treatment method:
Other sources : www.lungeninformationsdienst.de ; www.focus.de
Read more : First person "frozen": Doctors revive patients - after ice-cold transfusion.
jg
This is the best way to prevent arteriosclerosis and thus a heart attack
To the photo gallery
* Merkur.de belongs to the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network .