Authors:

Maxime Robert-Halabi, Samah Al Kharji, Sebastian-Mihail Georgescu, Renzo Cecere, Nadia Giannetti and Gordan Samoukovic*

McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada

Source:

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology

Abstract

Giant Cell Myocarditis (GCM) is a form of fulminant cardiomyopathy caused by a lymphocytic inflammatory response. Prompt diagnosis, hemodynamic stabilization and initiation of therapy are essential steps in the management of this disease. We report a case of fulminant GCM in which rapid implementation of Venous-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) and subsequent addition of a percutaneous biventricular
mechanical support with an Impella LP 5.0 (Abiomed, Danvers, MA) and a PROTEK Duo (TandemLife, Pittsburgh, PA) while administering immunosuppressants improved the patient clinical status as well biventricular cardiac function. We concluded that the addition of modern percutaneous biventricular supports to VA-ECMO is important to promote cardiac function recovery by offloading the ventricles and we provided a treatment algorithm incorporating
mechanical support in the management of these patients.

Keywords:

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; Cardiogenic
shock; Giant cell myocarditis; Heart failure; Immunosuppressive
therapy; Mechanical support device; Ventricular assist device

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Copyright:

© 2019 Robert-Halabi M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original author and source are credited.