Author(s)

Takanori Kono¹, Takeshi Oda¹, Keiichi Akaiwa¹, Katsuhiko Nakamura¹, Hiroyuki Tanaka²

¹Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Omura Municipal Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
²Department of Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.

Acute respiratory failure after surgery for aortic dissection is a serious complication that has been associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Veno-venous (VV) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is reported as one of the treatments for this life-threatening complication. A 78-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital for Stanford type A acute aortic dissection. He underwent emergency replacement of the ascending aorta, after which he developed acute lung injury. It was difficult to maintain oxygenation with a respirator mask. Therefore, VV-ECMO was initiated on postoperative day 1. The oxygenation gradually improved, and VV-ECMO was continued until postoperative day 13. On postoperative day 25, mechanical ventilation was withdrawn. The patient was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day 149. We report a case of successful treatment of acute lung injury with VV-ECMO initiated after surgery for aortic dissection. VV-ECMO can be considered as a treatment option for severe acute lung injury after surgery for aortic dissection.

Acute Aortic Dissection, Cardiopulmonary Bypass, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Acute Lung Injury, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Kono, T. , Oda, T. , Akaiwa, K. , Nakamura, K. and Tanaka, H. (2017) Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Acute Lung Injury after Surgery for Aortic Dissection: A Case Report. World Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, 7, 156-163. doi: 10.4236/wjcs.2017.712018.