Adult ECMO Program

When a severe illness or medical procedure affects breathing or heart function, patients might need mechanical circulatory support from medical devices that take over the work of the lungs or heart, allowing them to heal.

Recognition

NYU Langone has received the Platinum Level Center of Excellence Award from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).

Mechanical circulatory support, which includes temporary ventricular assist devices, helps the heart circulate blood through the body. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, is a type of mechanical circulatory support device that, in addition to pumping blood, also takes over the work of the lungs. These types of treatments, provided through NYU Langone’s Adult ECMO Program, can last for a few hours or up to a few weeks.

Excellence in ECMO and Mechanical Circulatory Support

Experts at NYU Langone Heart use mechanical circulatory support devices can be used to treat heart failure, heart attack, or acute respiratory failure, often as a temporary therapy before long-term treatment such as a ventricular assist device, heart transplant, or lung transplant.

ECMO is also used to treat people who have severe, life-threatening COVID-19, and our success rates exceed the national average. In the first two calendar years of the pandemic, our overall survival rate for people on ECMO support was 84 percent. The nationwide average during this time, reported by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization, was 48 percent.

In recognition of our excellent patient outcomes and survival rates, NYU Langone has received the Platinum Level Center of Excellence Award from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO).

Specialized Care and Support for Patients and Families

Specialized care is provided at Tisch Hospital and Kimmel Pavilion by our team of doctors, surgeons, nurses, and perfusionists, the specialists who operate the ECMO machines. Treatment includes surgery to connect mechanical circulatory support devices to blood vessels, as well as ongoing monitoring and care. ECMO care for children is provided through the Pediatric ECMO Program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone.

We provide resources to support you and your loved one undergoing treatment, including integrative health programs that promote stress relief, emotional support from our spiritual care team, and palliative and supportive care to ease the side effects of mechanical circulatory support and ECMO care.