Abstract
Extrcorporeal respiratory support for a relatively long period of hours by AV bypass and pumpless ECMO was conducted using a newly developed polypropilen extracorporeal perfusion and membrane oxygenator. Vital lung before and after respiratory assistance and the model lung with acute respiratory insufficiency exhibiting hypoventilation were observed by permiable electron microscope and were then compared. Those results indicated that this type of extracorporeal respiratory support would prevent impairment of the ultramicro structure in pulmonary tissue due to respiratory insuff icnecy. Especially the method for a relatively long period of hours was considered to be effective in repairing type B epithelial cells associated with the production and secretion of surfactant.
