Chennai: The ECMO society of India along with MGM Healthcare organized the 11th Annual National Conference on ECMO. The event was attended by ECMO specialists from all over the country, with eminent national and international faculty joining the conference. Over 100 national faculty members physically attending it in Chennai, and over 150 attending virtually and sharing their varied experience and academic insights.
The recent Covid 19 pandemic has brought ECMO to limelight and helped in saving critically ill patients with severe respiratory and heart failure. In a unique care Mr. Deepak Bhai from Ahmedabad who was successfully treated with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)—a procedure that oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body. Deepak required ECMO support twice during his recovery. It is an extremely rare occurrence as ECMO support was engaged twice especially for a COVID positive patient.
Dr. KR Balakrishnan, Chairman-Cardiac Sciences Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support, MGM Healthcare explained about the case and said “MGM Healthcare has treated over 200 patients during the pandemic, with a significant number making a complete recovery to normal life. The ECMO programme has also helped as a bridge to lung transplant in those patients with ire revisable lung damage.”
Dr. Suresh Rao, Co-Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support, MGM Healthcare further added “ECMOhas remarkably progressed over the recent years; it became invaluable tool in the care of adults and children with severe cardiac and pulmonary dysfunction refractory to conventional management. Putting to good use the infrastructure created especially during the pandemic resulted in saving many lives.”
He therefore considers it imperative to equip the younger generation of cardiac and thoracic surgeons with the necessary skills and knowledge to plan and help patients with Heart and Lung problems and return to normal life.
