Evaluations show treatment success with ECMO therapy in university hospitals of the Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna
Vienna (OTS) – Evaluations of the intensive medical treatment of Covid-19 patients who were subjected to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at the University Hospital Vienna General Hospital show a good chance of survival. Around three quarters of the patients who received ECMO treatment between January 2020 and April 2021 could be kept alive. In this demanding intensive medical technique, a machine partially or completely takes over the respiratory functions for patients outside their body. In an international comparison, Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna are among the leaders.
If ventilators can no longer help a patient with Covid-19, intensive care physicians still have a treatment option: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO for short. The ECMO is an “artificial lung” and was developed to treat patients with acute lung failure who have a chance of their lungs recovering over time. The ECMO supplies the blood outside the body with oxygen via a membrane oxygenator and removes carbon dioxide from the blood.
This treatment can temporarily replace the lung function and, with appropriate use, also the heart function. This gives the body time to either allow the organs to recover and resume their function or to bridge the gap before a lung transplant.
ECMO treatment: Valuable therapy option for Covid-19
Many Covid-19 patients only show moderate symptoms. But a subgroup develops severe lung and sometimes heart failure with the disease. For these patients, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be a valuable therapeutic option. This is now also shown by evaluations at the University Hospital Vienna General Hospital.
In the period from January 2020 to April 2021, ECMO treatment was carried out on 87 Covid-19 patients at the Vienna General Hospital, mostly at the University Clinic for Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine and at the University Clinic for Internal Medicine I of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital. The patients were on average 57 years old and connected to the ECMO for 16.5 days. The 28-day mortality was 25.4%; a total of 61 patients survived.
Intensive medical care in clinics of the Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna is among the best in the world
This treatment result shows top medical care for Covid-19 patients at the university hospitals of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital. In October 2020, the top journal “The Lancet” published study results on experiences with ECMO treatments in a worldwide patient registry, according to which long-term mortality is below 40%. This puts the Vienna General Hospital in the top international field. The fact that the intensive care units of the Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna specialized in the treatment of acute lung failure before the Covid-19 pandemic now has a positive effect on the care of seriously ill patients with Covid-19.
ECMO treatment only possible with a specialized team
As an invasive procedure, ECMO treatment requires a specialized and appropriately trained team of cardio technicians, doctors and intensive care nurses. Patients are connected by means of a catheter that is implanted in the cervical or inguinal vein. The use of cannulas, coagulation management and the determination of the right time to start and end the therapy are examples of the versatile know-how that the treatment team needs for ECMO therapy.
The number of specialized and appropriately trained experts who can carry out an ECMO is limited. At the intensive care units of Vienna General Hospital and MedUni Vienna, 25 treatments are currently being carried out in parallel, which means that capacities are largely exhausted.
Inquiries & contact:
medical university Vienna
Mag. Johannes Angerer
Head of Communication and Public Relations
+431 40160 – 11 501
Car: +43 664 800 16 11 501
johannes.angerer@meduniwien.ac.at
http://www.meduniwien.ac.at
Karin Fehringer, MBA
University Hospital Vienna General Hospital
Head of Information Center and PR
Vienna Health Association
Tel.: + 43 1 40 400 12160
E-Mail: presse@akhwien.at
Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna
www.akhwien.at/presse
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