Letter to the Editor: Naming and Unnaming in the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Literature

Zaaqoq, Akram M.; Fraser, John F. ASAIO J DOI: 10.1097/MAT.0000000000002041

To the Editor: We are grateful for the readers’ interest and suggestions relevant to our original contribution entitled “Pulmonary Artery Dual-Lumen Cannulation Versus Two Cannula Percutaneous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Configuration in Right Ventricular Failure”. Our report uniquely compared the technique with a dual lumen cannula whose tip is positioned in the pulmonary artery to the two cannulae veno-pulmonary artery configurations for acute right ventricular support. We concluded that the dual lumen cannula technique may have better outcomes as reflected by the shorter duration of the mechanical ventilation and early mobility of the patients with acute right ventricular failure. We are aware of the challenge and the inconsistency in the literature regarding extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) nomenclature.