Connection of a Renal Replacement Therapy or Plasmapheresis Device to the ECMO Circuit.

In patients under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support requiring renal replacement therapy or plasmapheresis, connecting such extracorporeal therapy device to the ECMO circuit provides many advantages compared with central venous catheterization. However, high pressures of the ECMO circuit limit the usefulness of this technique. We propose a new approach to connect extracorporeal therapy lines to the ECMO circuit. Inlet line is connected to the oxygenator, and outlet line is connected either to the femoral artery antegrade perfusion cannula in case of venoarterial ECMO or to the lateral vent of the return cannula in case of venovenous ECMO. We report the successful management of 21 patients using this connection, with much longer hemofilter average lifetime than previously reported.