Abstract
Clinical experience of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for newborns with severe respiratory distress was reported. A venoarterial ECMO mode was employed in all cases, and a newly designed ECMO machine of which priming volume was 150ml, was used.
Twenty seven newborns were managed with ECMO over the past five years up to Nov. 1991. ECMO was started at the age of 63.4 hours after birth, and continued for 89.1 hours on the average. Twenty out of twenty-seven newborns, 74.1% survived.
ECMO was beneficial to manage the newborns with severe respiratory distress, particularly to overcome the condition of persisent fetal circulation, although many kinds of hemorrhagic complication occurred.
