Extracorporeal life support in heart and lung transplantation

Extracorporeal life support is a technology that is being increasingly used to support children with cardiac and respiratory failure who fail conventional measures. Both extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and ventricular assist devices have been used in cardiac failure with the opportunity to support patients who fail repair of congenital heart disease and in primary myocardial disease. Outcomes in the latter are superior to the surgical patients which has lead to increasing use of extracorporeal life support as a bridge to transplantation. Experience with membrane oxygenation as a support mode after lung transplantation is limited to adult series with similar outcomes.