Amritsar, January 6
The city’s first successful venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) procedure was performed successfully at Ivy Hospital here recently.
A 30-year-old woman, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a LPG geyser, was found lying unconscious .
VA-ECMO is a form of temporary mechanical circulatory support and simultaneous extracorporeal gas exchange for acute cardiorespiratory failure, said Dr Pankaj Goel, a cardiovascular surgeon. Dr Goel said on admission, the patient’s BP was very low and she was on heavy dosage of medicine to keep it up. Only 15 per cent of her heart was functional. Without support, she would have lived only for a few hours.
