Extracorporeal life support for the neonatal cardiac patient: outcomes and new directions

Extracorporeal life support is an important therapy for neonates with life-threatening cardiopulmonary failure. Utilization of extracorporeal life support in neonates with congenital heart disease has increased dramatically during the past three decades. Despite increased usage, overall survival in these patients has changed very little and extracorporeal life support-related morbidity, including bleeding, neurologic injury, and renal failure, remains a major problem. Although survival is lower and neurologic complications are higher in premature infants than term infants, cardiac extracorporeal life support including extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation is effective in preventing death in many of these high-risk patients. Miniaturized ventricular assist devices and compact integrated extracorporeal life support systems are being developed to provide additional therapeutic options for neonates.