Scandinavian journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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Scand J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 1991
Case ReportsLeft atrial rupture following blunt thoracic injury. Case report.
A 22-year-old man presented with intermittent tachycardia and left-sided flail chest after an automobile accident. Initially his condition was stable, but 7 hours after the injury cardiac asystole appeared. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was immediately begun and operation was performed. A rupture of the left atrium was successfully repaired without cardiopulmonary bypass.
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Scand J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Jan 1991
Case ReportsVeno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with a heparin-coated system in adult respiratory distress syndrome.
Three patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome were treated with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, ECMO, using a heparin-coated system for 8, 12 and 34 days, respectively. Despite extracorporeal blood flow of 4-5 l/min, the patients were ventilator-dependent in the initial period of ECMO. ⋯ Acute pulmonary hypertensive crises, fatal systemic infection, recurrent pneumothorax and plasma leakage from the oxygenators were other main complications during ECMO. Two of the three patients survived, and follow-up showed that severely damaged lungs, if supported in the acute phase, can recover sufficiently to permit normal living.