Cardiorespiratory failure secondary to peripheral pulmonary emboli. Survival following a combination of prolonged extracorporeal membrane oxygenator support and pulmonary embolectomy.

A 19-year-old woman developed cardiorespiratory failure from multiple, peripheral pulmonary emboli apparently developing over the preceding 3 weeks. She was not considered to be an operative candidate. However, when 3 days of intravenous heparin infusion and 30 hours of membrane oxygenator support failed to improve the pulmonary pathology, pulmonary embolectomy was performed. The membrane oxygenator support had to be continued for 34 hours following the operation before it was successfully discontinued. The patient made a complete recovery.