Prophylactic Awake Peripheral V-A ECMO during TAVR

Introduction: TAVR remains a complex procedure that may result in serious intraprocedural complications. In many of these circumstances, venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A ECMO) helps to manage complications, provides a hemodynamic back-up, and bridges to an emergency open heart surgery. The clinical outcomes of 27 patients who underwent prophylactic implantation of peripheral V-A ECMO (pV-A ECMO) during high-risk transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) cases are described. Methods: From June 2012 to October 2022, 590 consecutive patients underwent TAVR at our center. Of these, 27 patients (4.5%) underwent TAVR with pV-AECMO because they were deemed very high risk for periprocedural complications and formed the study population. Results: There were no pV-A ECMO, hemodynamic or TAVR implantation complications. Decannulation of the ECMO system was performed in 92.6% of cases at the end of the procedure in the hybrid-operating theatre. The mean duration of pV-A ECMO for procedure support was 51.4 ± 10.3 min. There were no ECMO-related vascular or bleeding complications. Conclusion: This study shows that the prophylactic placement of awake peripheral V-A ECMO provides excellent temporary cardio-circulatory and pulmonary support during very high-risk TAVR procedures.