RESCUE transesophageal echocardiography for monitoring of mechanical chest compressions and guidance for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation cannulation in refractory cardiac arrest

Abstract

There is a growing interest in using point-of-care transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) during cardiac arrest. TEE is effective at identifying the etiology of sudden cardiovascular collapse and guiding management during the resuscitation. In selected patients with refractory cardiac arrest, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) can be considered. ECPR requires percutaneous vascular access for the implantation of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation circuit. We present a case of prolonged cardiac arrest in which rescue TEE was pivotal in narrowing the differential diagnosis, monitoring of mechanical chest compression performance, and guiding cannulation for ECPR.

Keywords: extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; point-of-care ultrasonography; transesophageal echocardiography.