ABSTRACT
Lung transplantation emerged as a modality to treat end-stage lung disease in the 1980s. Early in this experience, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was attempted as a support measure in those patients in whom all other attempts at stabilization had proven inadequate. At that time, the need for ECMO was (and is in some centers) considered to be a contraindication to lung transplantation due to the dismal survival rates of patients transplanted during ECMO support (1). Additionally, lung transplantation and its concomitant immunosuppression has been considered a contraindication to posttransplant ECMO support (2). However, at the present time, ECMO provides the only effective means of "mechanical support" for the patient dying from pulmonary failure, on the basis of parenchymal or pulmonary vascular disease.
