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Cerebral Microemboli in Venoarterial ECMO Patients

Completed
Conditions
Complication of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
Cerebral Microembolism
Cerebral Perfusion
Interventions
Device: Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound
Registration Number
NCT02020759
Lead Sponsor
Medical University of Vienna
Brief Summary

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is progressively used in critically ill patients with cardiac or respiratory failure as a bridging option for potential organ recovery. However, ECMO survivors often suffer from poor neurocognitive outcome due to neurological complications such as microembolic (ME) strokes.

In venoarterial (va) ECMO circuits the pulmonary circulation, which usually serves as microembolic filter, may be bypassed and generated ME are prone to reach the brain in substantial amounts and potentially impair cerebral integrity. Although patient exposure to cerebral ME has been thoroughly investigated in cardiopulmonary bypass procedures, there is only limited research on cerebral ME in patients undergoing ECMO therapy.

The primary study goal of this study is to determine the load and nature of cerebral ME in critically ill patients under va-ECMO support. We also aim to compare the results to measurements in healthy subjects und intensive care unit (ICU) patients without extracorporeal support to get a better impression on the relevance of ME generation during ECMO support.

Detailed Description

The addition of ICU patients was made according to reviewer suggestions after an initial submission to a medical journal.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
20
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

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Exclusion Criteria
  • use of any other extracorporeal device including venovenous (vv) ECMO
  • continuous renal replacement therapy
  • medical history of severe mitral or aortic stenosis
  • medical history of severe mitral or aortic regurgitation
  • medical history of carotid stenosis > 70 %
  • septicaemia
  • medical history of vascular dementia or Alzheimer's disease
  • inclusion in an other clinical study
  • gravidity
  • allergy against materials of one of the medical device used in the study
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Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Healthy subjectsTranscranial Doppler UltrasoundNeurological monitoring with transcranial Doppler ultrasound
Patient on ECMOTranscranial Doppler UltrasoundNeurological monitoring with transcranial Doppler ultrasound
ICU patientsTranscranial Doppler UltrasoundNeurological monitoring with transcranial Doppler ultrasound
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Cerebral embolic load30 minutes

Cerebral embolic load (solid and gaseous) is measured in a 30 minutes-interval during ECMO usage

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Medical University of Vienna

🇦🇹

Vienna, Austria

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