Pediatric research
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We studied the distribution of systemic blood flow during venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in newborn lambs. We used a three-compartment model that defined partitioning of blood flow to the heart, upper body (brachiocephalic trunk), and lower body (descending aorta). The method used concurrent left ventricular and arterial cannular injections of radiolabeled microspheres to calculate compartment flows and solve the system of equations that defined the partition model. ⋯ However, blood flow from the ECMO circuit was preferentially directed to the upper body. Coronary arterial and abdominal organ blood flow was predominantly derived from the left ventricle at both ECMO flow rates. Coronary arterial blood flow did not significantly change on ECMO (253 +/- 45 mL/min/100 g at 50 mL/min/kg ECMO flow; 246 +/- 50 mL/min/100 g at 100 mL/min/kg ECMO flow) compared to baseline (186 +/- 31 mL/min/100 g).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)