THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Doctors at a city hospital made optimal use of the ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) system in the hospital to save the life of a pregnant woman who suffered two heart-attacks during labour pains owing to the rare case of amniotic fluid embolism (AFE).
“The young patient was rushed to KIMSHEALTH after she suffered a cardiac arrest at another hospital where she was admitted for delivery. The complication was due to AFE, where the amniotic fluid that serves as a cushion for the foetus inside the womb enters the mother’s blood-stream to trigger a serious reaction,” said a press release issued by the hospital.
The doctors at the previous hospital managed to overcome the emergency, and then referred to KIMSHEALTH for further management where the patient suffered a second cardiac arrest. As the oxygen content in her blood dipped to a dangerous low, the doctors chose to go for ECMO, the hospital said.
The patient was provided ECMO facilities. “We inserted tubes into the blood vessels and veins of the patient’s legs to employ ECMO,” said Dr Shaji Palangadan, senior consultant.