• Nobuyuki Nosaka, Shingo Ichiba, Kohei Tsukahara, Emily Knaup, Kumiko Hayashi, Shingo Kasahara, Yoshinori Kobayashi, Makio Oka, Katsuhiro Kobayashi, Harumi Yoshinaga, and Yoshihito Ujike.
• Advanced Emergency and Critical Care Medical Center, Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan. pv702xz5@s.okayama-u.ac.jp.
• Bmc Pediatr. 2015 Jan 1; 15: 29.

BackgroundExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is now a candidate therapy for children with acute respiratory failure.Case PresentationWe report our experience of using central ECMO therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome followed by seizure in a 15-month-old girl with a severe epileptic disorder. Her respiratory distress was refractory to standard medical treatment and mechanical ventilatory support. Her condition was complicated by development of a pneumothorax. The patient was successfully weaned off ECMO and discharged without deterioration of her neurological status.ConclusionThe successful outcome in this case resulted from the central ECMO, which enabled "lung rest" and adequate cerebral blood flow. In skilled ECMO facilities, early implementation of ECMO would give some advantages to patients such as the one presented here. Given the invasiveness and the ease of the procedure, introduction of dual-lumen catheters adequately sized for pediatric patients in Japan is required.

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