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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving strategy to help the sickest children survive their most challenging moments. It uses a device to temporarily take over for your child's lungs and heart when those organs can't function properly. Available at only a handful of children's medical centers, pediatric ECMO requires the highest level of expertise and teamwork.
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center is proud to be recognized as one of the leading pediatric ECMO centers in the world.
To learn more about hospital transfers or to facilitate a transfer, please contact our ECMO team coordinators at 1-800-NYP-STAT.
About ECMO
What is ECMO?
ECMO is an advanced type of life support that can help if your child's lungs and heart are too sick to function. ECMO is a powerful tool that can allow your child's heart and lungs to heal while doctors treat their illness or injury, and can also help keep your child alive while they await a transplant.
Normally, the lungs add oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the blood as we breathe, and the heart acts as a pump, moving blood throughout the body. ECMO acts as a temporary heart and lungs to perform these critical functions for your child.
How Does ECMO Work?
ECMO stands for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation; "extracorporeal" means "outside of the body." The ECMO device continuously passes blood outside the body, adding oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. The device then returns the newly-oxygenated blood to the body.
ECMO can be used to support the lungs only (venovenous ECMO) or the heart and lungs together (venoarterial ECMO).
While on ECMO, our team will keep your child as comfortable as possible using carefully managed pain medication, sedatives, and other supportive medications. ECMO therapy can last a few days to a few weeks, depending on the type and severity of your child's condition.
Conditions We Treat
Pediatric ECMO provides support for newborns, children, and adolescents with life-threatening illnesses and injuries, including:
- Bridge to heart or lung transplantation
- Congenital diaphragmatic hernia
- Life-threatening heart disorders
- Cardiogenic shock
- Cardiomyopathy/Myocarditis (infection of the heart)
- Heart failure
- Meconium aspiration syndrome (newborns)
- Respiratory distress syndrome
- Pneumonia
- Pulmonary hypertension
- Sepsis
Care at Columbia
Seeing your child experience a critical illness or injury can be overwhelming for any parent. We understand the challenges you and your child are facing, and our experienced team will be with you at every step of your journey.
We'll keep you up-to-date on your child's status and progress with daily family-centered updates from all members of your child's team — including critical care physicians, ECMO physicians, surgeons, and nurses. We'll help you understand every decision that needs to be made, from nutrition to the length of your child's EMCO treatment. In fact, we invite parents to join our rounds as valuable members of the team
We take the time to consider all of your child's needs and those of you and your family. You can count on us.
Stories & Perspectives
A five-month-old’s first cold turned into something much scarier until the Columbia/NYP ECMO team stepped in. Read Selma’s story at NYP.org
Program Highlights
One of the Leading ECMO Centers in the World
Columbia is an established leader for pediatric ECMO, with an experienced team that understands how to manage even the most challenging illnesses. Our outstanding outcomes speak to the world-class level of care we provide.
Recognized as a Platinum Center of Excellence
Since 2016, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital have earned the top-tier Platinum Center of Excellence designation from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO). This prestigious award reflects our unwavering commitment to providing outstanding care to patients, our focus on educating our staff and families, our expert use of specialized equipment, and our dedication to maintaining the highest standards for everything we do.
A Multidisciplinary Team
ECMO requires coordinating care from a range of disciplines. We bring together pediatric specialists from across Columbia, including:
- ECMO & Critical Care Physicians
- Pediatric Surgeons
- Cardiologists
- Neonatologists
- Neurologists
- Perfusionists
- Pulmonologists
- ECMO-trained Critical Care Nurses
- Critical Care Nurse Practitioners
- Transplantation Specialists
- Respiratory Therapists
Always Prepared, No Matter What
Our team has access to a dedicated, top-of-the-line ECMO Simulation Lab, where our nurses can practice managing any and every type of ECMO complication. This commitment to their craft makes sure that they're always keeping their skills sharp in such a highly specialized field.
Care at the Leading Children's Hospital in New York City
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is a leading center for treating the sickest children in New York City and beyond. We offer the latest ECMO and ICU technologies in our Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU), Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Units (PCICU), and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU).
Partnering with You and Your Child
For any parent, seeing your child experience a critical illness or injury can be overwhelming. We understand the challenges you and your child are facing, and our experienced team will be with you at every step of your journey. We'll keep you up-to-date on your child's status and progress, answer your questions, and give you and your family everything you need to make the most informed decisions for your child's treatment.
Providing Safe Transportation for ECMO Candidates
If your child needs to be transported to our hospital, our Mobile ECMO Transport Team offers the safest transfers possible. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology like a portable ECMO machine, this specialized service functions as a mobile intensive care unit with highly trained paramedics, intensive care physicians, ECMO surgeons, and perfusionists.
To learn more about hospital transfers or to facilitate a transfer, please contact our ECMO team coordinators at 1-800-NYP-STAT.
Our Team
Caring for young, delicate hearts and lungs requires the collaboration of specialists who maximize every aspect of your child's care. In addition to multiple types of medical, surgical, and nursing specialists, our team includes social workers, physical and occupational therapists, skin care specialists, and child life specialists. Together, we provide advanced ECMO care in the most comfortable setting possible for your child and family.
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Eva Cheung, MD
Medical Director, Pediatric ECMO
Tarif A. Choudhury, MD
Director, Pediatric ECMO Simulation Program
Pediatric Surgery
William Middlesworth, MD
Surgical Director, Pediatric ECMO
Neonatology
Diana Vargas, MD
Medical Director, Neonatal ECMO
Nurse Practitioner/Administrator
Eunice C. Clark, MSN, RN, FNP-C
Program Manager, Pediatric ECMO
Perfusion Services
Mike Brewer, CCP
Chief Perfusionist, Pediatric ECMO
Caleb Varner, CCP
Chief Perfusionist, Pediatric ECMO
Contact Us
To learn more about hospital transfers or to facilitate a transfer, please contact our ECMO team coordinators at 1-800-NYP-STAT.
We are located at Columbia/NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, the number one children’s hospital in New York.
Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital
3935 Broadway
New York, NY 10032
United States
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