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Cardiac arrest in route to hosp, VA ECMO placement, diagnostic cath

Date: Oct 10, 2019

Question:

Need help with this portion of case, wondering what your suggestions would be? "Upon arrival to the Cath Lab, the patient was noted to have very low flows on the ECMO circuit. Despite aggressive volume resuscitation and vasopressor administration, the patient remained in refractory shock. Her abdomen was distended upon arrival to the Cath Lab and this progressed throughout the case. Aspiration of the left arterial sheath demonstrated that the blood return appeared very dilated, and we fear that the patient had suffered a severe bleeding event. We really turned our attention to interrogation of the ECMO cannulae. A rim catheter was used to selectively engage the right iliofemoral anatomy and an angiogram was performed which demonstrated a well-placed and positioned arterial ECMO cannula. Using the modified Seldinger technique, a 6 French sheath was then placed in the left common femoral vein alongside the venous ECMO cannula. A venogram was performed which showed contrast extravasation outside of the vascular space at the level of the cavoatrial junction."

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