Combination of membrane oxygenator support and pulmonary lavage for acute respiratory failure

A 24-year-old woman with chronic granulocytic leukemia and alveolar proteinosis required extracorporeal membrane oxygenator support for respiratory failure refractory to conventional therapy. During perfusion, each lung was lavaged with 10 L. of normal saline. The lavage led to marked clearing of the lungs and improvement in pulmonary function. Extracorporeal support was terminated successfully after 54 hours. The patient died 2 weeks later with bone marrow insufficiency and overwhelming sepsis. Pulmonary lavage is technically feasible during venovenous oxygenator bypass, and may be of value, since such lavage debrides alveoli as well as the bronchial tree. Because pulmonary lavage provides a possible means of improving pulmonary function, it seems worthy of consideration as an adjunct to membrane oxygenator support.