Transthoracic Echocardiographic Predictors of Left Atrial Hypertension in Patients on Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Abstract

Decompression of the left heart in patients supported with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is often warranted to protect the myocardium and facilitate recovery. We studied the ability of standard echocardiographic parameters to predict left atrial hypertension by reviewing 3 cardiac patients supported with ECMO who subsequently underwent left atrial decompression. We found that standard echocardiographic parameters poorly predict the need for left atrial decompression on ECMO. Following a more specific diagnostic algorithm to estimate left-sided filling pressure in patients with depressed ejection fraction may significantly improve the ability of echocardiography to accurately predict left atrial hypertension and the need for decompression.