Young survivors celebrate their life-saving device

06/01/2006

Indianapolis - Kids who are alive today because of a heart-lung bypass as infants will gather for a picnic this Saturday, June 3, 2006. The picnic is for ECMO survivors and their families. ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, was developed about 20 years ago to help newborns through a temporary health crisis.

Clinical Coordinator of the ECMO Program at Riley, James Hart, BSN, RN says that ECMO is used for babies when conventional therapy is failing. "This is a bridge to get them back to traditional treatment." ECMO therapy requires such an extensive group of specialists for its support that it's typically found at large medical centers with a medical school affiliation, such as Riley and the IU School of Medicine.

In the two decades since it's inception, other treatments have been developed to help premature newborns who are more frequent ECMO candidates. Research studies needed for treatments including inhaled nitrous oxide and surfactants (for premature lungs) could not have been conducted without ECMO's existence. "ECMO supported research therapies that are basically intended to put it out of business", says Hart. 

The ECMO program at Riley is one of the largest in the country, having served nearly 600 young patients since 1987. Most of these infants are in severe but reversible cardiac or respiratory failure. Their mortality rate without getting the support of ECMO is between 50 and 80 percent.

The ECMO picnic is Saturday June 3, 2006 from 12 p.m.- 3p.m. at St. Matthew Catholic Church at 56th and Binford Boulevard. About 40 families with children who survived infancy due to ECMO will be on hand to celebrate.