Zhang Yang

nicolezyyy@163.com

A 10-MONTH-OLD baby who almost died of severe pneumonia was saved after receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) treatment jointly provided by two hospitals in Shenzhen, according to a press release from both hospitals.

The baby, identified as Yang, caught a cold half a month ago and his condition didn’t improve after receiving an intravenous drip at a hospital near his home. Yang was brought to the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) by his mother July 19, and was transferred to the PICU soon after he was hospitalized.

According to the hospital’s doctors, the baby had a mycoplasma pneumonia infection that was probably caused by drug-resistant mycoplasmas, which put him in great danger as the medication wasn’t immediately effective.

Zhu Lixing, a doctor in the hospital’s pediatric department, said a chest X-ray showed that only one-fifth of the baby’s lungs were still functioning at the time and he was on the brink of death as the situation continued to worsen.

Several experts from the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University brought the ECMO equipment to HKU-SZH after they were called for help by the hospital. The two hospitals had worked together to save a 26-year-old woman with ECMO treatment in April.

ECMO is an extracorporeal technique providing both cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange to sustain life.

Liu Yong, chief physician in the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University’s ICU department, said the use of ECMO can buy more time for the patient’s treatment as it works as an artificial heart-lung machine.

“We realized the huge risks we faced treating a 10-month-old baby who only weighed 7 kilograms, but we had to try our best,” Liu said.

Yang’s life was sustained by ECMO for 11 days between July 30 and Aug. 9, which offered the doctors enough time to cure his lung infections. Currently, the baby can breathe without the aid of a breathing machine and his lung function is recovering well.