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Updated: May 27, 2026

Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Peripheral Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Without Left Ventricular Venting
Published on: January 17, 2025
Left ventricular decompression during peripheral extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support with the use of the
Kyriakos Anastasiadis1, Omiros Chalvatzoulis, Polychronis Antonitsis
1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Abstract:
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has become a widely accepted short-term mechanical circulatory support device in patients with refractory cardiogenic shock. A major drawback of the peripheral venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is that in patients with profoundly reduced left ventricular contractility associated with high left-heart filling pressure, there is always concern for venting the failing ventricle. We describe a minimally invasive technique for decompressing the left ventricle in this setting using a novel pulsatile paracorporeal assist device, the iVAC 3L (PulseCath, Groningen, The Netherlands). It is implanted through the right axillary artery and provides hemodynamic support while directly off-loading the left ventricle.
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