Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Support in Lung Cancer Resection

Cardiovascular comorbidities often prevent patients with otherwise resectable early-stage lung cancer from undergoing surgery due to prohibitive perioperative risk. Here we describe the intraoperative use of venoarterial (VA) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a stage cIIA lung cancer patient with arterial infiltration and severe postischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (ejection fraction, 0.23) undergoing left upper lobectomy with pulmonary artery angioplasty. Providing intraoperative cardiovascular and respiratory function support, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation represents a suitable option for patients with heart failure, ensuring an adequate hemodynamic profile and reducing the risk of complications. Thus, these otherwise inoperable patients can be offered a potentially curative surgical resection of the malignancy.