Introduction
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has revolutionized the
treatment of severe cardiac and respiratory failure. The use of ECMO as
bridge to transplantation (BTT) is increasing (1), and heart
transplantation today remains as the gold standard for end-stage heart
failure refractory to medical treatment. Although the number of patients
with ECMO as BTT is small, it may increase with the changes to the heart
allocation system (2). Left ventricular (LV) venting strategies to avoid
events related to LV distention are an essential component of peripheral
veno-arterial ECMO. We present a case of femoral ECMO as BTT using the
Bio-medicus NextGen cannula (Medtronic) for simultaneous drainage and LV
venting.