Published in:
01-12-2008 | Correspondence
Successful extubation of an “unweanable” patient with severe ankylosing spondylitis (Bechterew's disease) using a pumpless extracorporeal lung assist
Authors:
Thomas Bein, Sigrid Wittmann, Alois Philipp, Michael Nerlich, Thomas Kuehnel, Hans Juergen Schlitt
Published in:
Intensive Care Medicine
|
Issue 12/2008
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Excerpt
Sir: Patients suffering from severe ankylosing spondylitis (Bechterew’s disease) present with limited motion of the chest wall and with pathological anatomy (neck, upper chest region) due to fusion of costovertebral and sternoclavicular joints, resulting in intercostal muscle atrophy [
1]. Demand for tracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, and intensive care treatment may be a challenge, since difficult airway management has to be expected and the weaning process from mechanical ventilation may fail. We report on the use of a new pumpless arterio-venous extracorporeal interventional lung assist (iLA, Novalung, Talheim, Germany) in a patient with severe ankylosing spondylitis, in whom “conventional” weaning was not successful. …
