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Published on: February 28, 2012
Left Atrial Decompression by Minithoracotomy During Extracorporeal Life Support
Mayuko Yamamoto1, Yoshihiro Oshima1, Hironori Matsuhisa1
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kobe Children's Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
Abstract:
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation through cervical cannulation is an established option for pediatric patients with acute cardiopulmonary failure. However, left-sided heart decompression is sometimes mandatory in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction. This report describes a fast and less invasive technique for placing a left atrial cannula through a left anterior minithoracotomy approach. In 4 critically ill children, this minimally invasive technique provided satisfactory left-sided heart decompression, and this report describes a representative case.
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