Echocardiography and extracorporeal life support in intensive care unit

Abstract

Cardiac assist devices are used to support patients with circulatory failure and/or respiratory failure. Most often, cardiac assistance is utilized to provide a bridge to recovery or transplantation. Echocardiography is of paramount importance in indicating or confirming assistance indication, in selecting the type of assistance device, and in ruling out contraindications. In the peri- and postoperative period, echocardiography is also very useful in confirming the correct position of cannulas and in detecting complications (pericardial effusion/hematoma, intracardial thrombus, vessel dissection). Transesophageal echocardiography is the preferred modality for this indication. When partial support is employed, transesophageal echocardiography is effective in ensuring right or left ventricular tolerance, and it may indicate that a change be made in the cannulation site or device. The relatively noninvasive character of ultrasound allows for serial assessments. Finally, echocardiography is also employed to assess potential heart recovery, and it is very useful to evaluate tolerance to assistance weaning. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.