Strategies and Concepts of Extracorporeal Life Support

Dear Colleagues,

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is a technique for cardiac and/or pulmonary support if other more conservative measures are not able to sustain an adequate perfusion and/or gas exchange. Largely derived from cardiopulmonary bypass, the technique was developed during the early 1970s. However, after the initial enthusiasm, ECLS was regarded as useless or as an experimental method just to delay death, but not as a true treatment modality. Technological evolution together with improvements in the management of ECLS patients has led to significantly better outcomes and wider adoption of the technique. Nowadays, ECLS is used for the treatment of a broad variety of cardiac and/or pulmonary diseases, either with the target to recover the respective organs or as a bridge to organ transplantation or durable mechanical circulatory support. Despite all the improvements, the outcome after ECLS is still limited, and this is partly related to the patient’s critical status but also to the associated complications. The scientific literature on this topic is scarce, and thus this Special Issue aims to collect clinical reports, experimental data, and reviews on new strategies and concepts of ECLS in order to increase the knowledge and acceptance of this therapy within the medical community.

Dr. Dominik Wiedemann
Guest Editor

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