Covid-19 patient on ECMO support for 72 days recovers: hospital

A 32-year-old Covid-19 patient, who was on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support for 72 days, has successfully recovered, a private hospital that treated him has said.

Rajesh, the patient who hails from Chennai, was shifted to MGM Healthcare on July 13 from another hospital where he was receiving treatment for Covid-19 and lung-related issues since mid-May.

“He was brought to us with 100 per cent involvement of the lungs and we decided to continue ECMO support to stabilize his health condition. The team then worked on settling his health issues one by one as we first placed a stent for distended gall bladder,” Dr K R Balakrishnan, Chairman - Cardiac Sciences Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support, MGM Healthcare, said.

The patient was given antibiotics to treat cellulitis on his right foot and he underwent regular bronchoscopy and was given antibiotics to treat his lungs which had a severe infection. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a procedure that oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body.

“It is an extremely rare occurrence as the patient was on ECMO support for a period of 72 days which makes him one of the longest ECMO Covid-19 survivors in the country,” the hospital said.

Dr Suresh Rao, Co-Director, Institute of Heart and Lung Transplant & Mechanical Circulatory Support, said the patient experienced bleeding at the site of stent placement “which our expert team managed to address on time and resolve the issue.”

“We successfully managed to treat all his health issues proactively and the ECMO support was weaned off after 72 days. The patient has responded positively to the treatment and his vitals are currently stable. We salute the resolve of the patient as he and his family didn’t lose hope and fully supported him in the last three months,” he added.

The patient is now undergoing active physiotherapy and has been discharged recently from the hospital. His health has shown good signs of recovery and he will soon be able to resume regular activities, the hospital said.

In another case, a Chennai man diagnosed with Covid-19 and resultant lung complications spent about 109 days on ECMO and ventilator support and recovered without having to undergo a lung transplant, the city hospital which treated him said on Thursday.

Fifty six year-old Mudijja stepped out of the hospital as a healthy man today.

“He became a living miracle, as none in the country has ever recovered without a lung transplant after spending over 9 weeks with ECMO support. Further, the treatment and care at the hospital were such that Mr Mudijja did not require a lung transplant, even after 9 weeks of ECMO support,” Rela Hospital, a multi-speciality quaternary care hospital at Chrompet, claimed.

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After testing positive for Covid-19 in April end, Mudijja developed breathing difficulties before being referred to Rela Hospital. A CT scan prior to his admission at Rela Hospital indicated moderate Covid-19 pneumonia.

His oxygen saturation level was at 92 percent in room air, when he was transferred to the hospital. His condition deteriorated and he required 10 litres of oxygen per minute. The heart and lung team led by Dr C Arumugam, senior consultant, heart and lung transplant surgeon, decided to move him into ECMO.

Despite the progress being minimal during the initial 4-5 weeks, the hospital continued the medicare, it said. “ECMO, traditionally, has been used as an intermittent arrangement until lung transplantation. However, now this team has truly made it a life-saving procedure,” Dr Mohamed Rela, the hospital chairman said.

With apprehensions of third coronavirus wave and the public still to be fully vaccinated, Prof Rela felt that the ECMO machine will be a critical tool on which the healthcare fraternity shall depend upon in this uncertain times for the treatment of other life-threatening illnesses.

(With PTI inputs)