ECMO

Our critical care team works closely with the best surgical and medical specialty physicians in the region, and uses cutting edge technologies including advanced respiratory support, all forms of renal replacement strategies, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Since 1982, Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital has supported numerous infants, children, and adults with ECMO, a technology that reproduces the function of the heart and lungs. Our multidisciplinary ECMO team includes pediatric surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, critical care intensivists, cardiologists, perfusionists, and a specialized ECMO transport team.

The use of ECMO in pediatrics has grown exponentially over the past decade. ECMO can provide cardiac support in post-operative congenital heart surgery patients or bridge children who have failing hearts due to myocarditis or cardiomyopathy to recovery or heart transplant. ECMO also can provide respiratory support in patients with acute lung injury, trauma, severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, and severe asthma. We perform approximately 50 cases of ECMO each year in our hospital, making our pediatric ECMO program the largest in the New York area. Our ECMO program was recently awarded platinum status by ELSO (Extracorporeal Life Support Organization), and is one of the few pediatric centers in the world with this top designation.