Daily care: Echocardiography:
- Patients on V-A ECMO are very dynamic, and their cardiac function is quite labile.
- At TGH we usually do daily echocardiography on these patients in close collaboration with the heart failure team.
- Depending on how good the views are, TTE or TEE may be employed.
- Although there are many parameters to measure on echocardiography, it is very important to assess:
- The LV size (to ensure there is no overdistension).
- The LV and RV function.
- The aortic valve opening.
- The pericardium.
- The settings of the ECLS circuit can be adjusted during the echocardiogram to get real time information about the patient's heart (this is known as a "ramp" study).
Next page: Daily care of the ECMO patient: Assessment of bleeding