Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Supported Transbronchial Cryobiopsy in the Diagnosis of Severe Organizing Pneumonia: A Case Report

This case report describes a 58-year-old, never-smoking housewife with chief complaints of progressively worsening cough, dyspnea, and intermittent fever, who was initially misdiagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, her pulse oximetry oxygen saturation continued to decline, and eventually, she underwent an endotracheal intubation. Fortunately, transbronchial cryobiopsy (TBCB) assisted by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was performed in the most critical situation, and it revealed an organizing pneumonia (OP) pattern. OP describes a histological pattern of acute or subacute pulmonary damage, which may be idiopathic or associated with a known or unknown underlying disease. A definitive diagnosis of OP usually obtained from pathology, and surgical lung biopsy with large lung tissue is recommended. However, since the surgical lung biopsy was not convenient for this patient after mechanical ventilation, bedside TBCB supported by ECMO was selected. To our knowledge, we are the first to report the pathological diagnosis of ECMO assisted TBCB in acute respiratory failure. When oxygenation cannot be maintained after endotracheal intubation and surgical lung biopsy is not feasible, ECMO-supported TBCB may be a good choice to obtain lung tissue for histopathological diagnosis in patients with acute lung injury of unknown etiology.