• Sung-Min Cho, Christopher Wilcox, Steven Keller, Matthew Acton, Hannah Rando, Eric Etchill, Katherine Giuliano, Errol L Bush, Haris I Sair, John Pitts, Bo Soo Kim, and Glenn Whitman.
• Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Phipps 455, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA. csungmi1@jhmi.edu.
• Crit Care. 2022 Apr 30; 26 (1): 119119.

BackgroundTo assess the safety and feasibility of imaging of the brain with a point-of-care (POC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Early detection of acute brain injury (ABI) is critical in improving survival for patients with ECMO support.MethodsPatients from a single tertiary academic ECMO center who underwent head CT (HCT), followed by POC brain MRI examinations within 24 h following HCT while on ECMO. Primary outcomes were safety and feasibility, defined as completion of MRI examination without serious adverse events (SAEs). Secondary outcome was the quality of MR images in assessing ABIs.ResultsWe report 3 consecutive adult patients (median age 47 years; 67% male) with veno-arterial (n = 1) and veno-venous ECMO (n = 2) (VA- and VV-ECMO) support. All patients were imaged successfully without SAEs. Times to complete POC brain MRI examinations were 34, 40, and 43 min. Two patients had ECMO suction events, resolved with fluid and repositioning. Two patients were found to have an unsuspected acute stroke, well visualized with MRI.ConclusionsAdult patients with VA- or VV-ECMO support can be safely imaged with low-field POC brain MRI in the intensive care unit, allowing for the assessment of presence and timing of ABI.© 2022. The Author(s).

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