TYLER, Texas — UT Health East Texas is planning to offer the region’s first adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program for patients dealing with severe forms of heart or lung failure.
As an advanced pulmonary and cardiac treatment, ECMO is typically used for critically ill patients to help relieve stress on vital organs, allowing for recovery to a state of normal function.
“This treatment will allow patients to receive the highest level of cardiac and pulmonary supportive care locally, rather than being transferred to a facility far from home to receive this cutting-edge therapy,” UT Health East Texas Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Lamanteer said.
East Texas patients requiring this treatment are being transferred to Dallas or Houston at the moment.
Lamanteer said bringing this technology to East Texas requires an substantial commitment from the hospital system in terms of equipment, training and physician involvement.
“This modality is an advanced level of cardiac and pulmonary treatment that is resource intensive and has been demonstrated to save lives. It also will present a unique teaching opportunity for our medical students, residents and critical care fellows,” Lamanteer said.
Dr. Matt Leveno, ICU Medical Director and Chief of Critical Care Medicine, says the health system is focused on building the ECMO clinical team with the goal of implementing the technology at UT Health Tyler in the second to third quarter of this year.
“ECMO treatment in the East Texas region is a natural evolution of UT Health’s commitment to the highest levels of advanced clinical capabilities as well as academic development for medical residents. We’re proud to be bringing this lifesaving technology to East Texas,” Leveno said.