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Updated: Aug 11, 2025
Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Peripheral Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Without Left Ventricular Venting
Published on: January 17, 2025
Cardiac tamponade during venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a case report
E J M Adriaansen1, J A J Hermens1, M Broome2,3
1Department of Intensive Care, Utrecht University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Background:
Cardiac tamponade may present with very different signs and clinical consequences in patients who are supported with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Failure to recognize cardiac tamponade in this setting can cause failure to wean from venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and even lead to death.
Case Presentation:
We present a 44-year-old Caucasian female in whom cardiac tamponade manifested as venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation weaning failure. After discovering the contribution of cardiac tamponade, it was possible to wean the patient from venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. No clear signs of cardiac tamponade had existed beforehand.
Conclusions:
The diagnosis of cardiac tamponade can be very challenging in venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation supported patients due to (patho)physiological particularities related to the parallel blood flow.
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