Fall 2013 functions in critical situations. Quinn was lucky to be at Egleston—one of the few pediatric ECMO centers in the Southeast. While on ECMO, Quinn required heart surgery, and she also suffered a stroke. Quinn’s large group of family and friends were aware she might not survive, and if she did make it, she could have neurological damage from the stroke.
5
About Quinn’s treatment
When the picture looked as bleak as it could get, Quinn’s heart regained the strength it needed to work on its own. After six days she was removed from the ECMO machine, recalls the mother who set up a bedside vigil at Egleston. “I never left her side. I ate, slept and showered there.”
What is ECMO? Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO is a life-saving procedure that uses a heart-
Quinn cleared another hurdle when she was taken off the ventilator that was
lung machine similar to the one used in open-heart
helping her breathe. “I was really mad—I thought I had not been given anything
surgery. The ECMO machine consists of several
to drink for 24 hours,” Quinn says. “I couldn’t believe it when they told me I had
parts: a pump, artificial lung, blood warmer and an
been in the hospital for 15 days.”
arterial filter. The machine takes blue blood (without
Recognizing her daughter’s feisty mood, Zoe knew Quinn had won the battle. Once off the ventilator, Quinn was taken to the Cardiac Step-Down Unit where she spent a few days recovering. She was then taken to our Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (CIRU). “I was there for two weeks—I had to learn how to swallow, talk and eat again,” Quinn says. “Looking at her now, it’s as though none of that ever happened,” her mother says. “She just bounced right back.”
oxygen) out of the right side of the heart and pumps it through the artificial lung to turn it into red blood (with oxygen). This blood is then warmed and filtered before it returns to the patient. An ECMO machine takes over the work of a patient’s heart and lungs to allow the organs to heal and oxygen levels in the blood to improve. ECMO patients are also connected to a ventilator, which
Quinn did more than bounce back; she is thriving. An honor student with a
keeps their lungs from collapsing. At the beginning
4.12 GPA, Quinn has big plans for her future. After she attends college at The
of the procedure, the ECMO machine does most
University of Georgia, she wants to study medicine at Emory University or
of the work. Patients are slowly weaned from the
Georgia Regents University.
machine as the heart and lungs begin to heal.
“With a life-or-death situation, there is no way to come out of it unchanged.” “I want to be a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s so I can provide others with the great care I received,” Quinn explains, as her mother squeezes her hand, a look of pride on her face. Zoe has praise for the doctors and the entire Egleston staff who took such great care of her family. “The chaplain provided so much comfort, and the child life specialists also did a great job—they really helped Kent cope with his big sister’s illness,” she says. For a girl her age, Quinn has been through a lot. “I used to take everything for granted, just like any kid,” she says. “But when you are faced with a life-or-death situation, there is no way to come out of it unchanged. I now live every day like it could be my last.”
ECMO is considered the last option when treating acute respiratory and heart failure. It was originally reserved for children predicted to have only a 20 percent chance of survival. Currently, cardiac ECMO is used when a child’s heart is not strong enough to keep him alive. While some patients need ECMO before heart surgery, cardiac ECMO is mainly used after conventional cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, either because a child cannot be weaned from bypass or because he experiences clinical decline in the Intensive Care Unit after surgery.
Did you know? The Children’s ECMO Center is the national and international leader in pediatric ECMO.