SINGAPORE – His knee pain suddenly became worse and he began to experience chest pain. Mr Dante Lin’s oxygen levels were low and his heart was weak, and the 18-year-old was not responding to any treatment.
Doctors at the National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS) told his mother, Mrs Amy Lin, 41, that her son was on the verge of cardiovascular collapse and death.
But they offered a lifeline – to put him on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (Ecmo) life support. It was the first time Mrs Lin had heard of such a treatment, and even though she did not fully understand what it was then, she agreed. That saved his life.
Ecmo is a life-saving machine which takes over the function of the heart and lungs. It is a highly specialised and complex form of life support and is used on the most critically ill patients when no other treatment works.
It is also very resource-intensive and requires an experienced team of medical experts, including specially trained nurses, perfusionists, cardiac surgeons and intensive care unit physicians.
For 62 days, Mr Lin was hooked on to the Ecmo machine. It helped to supply oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from his blood. At times, it took over the function of his heart.
After spending a total of 98 days at the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) in NUHCS, Mr Lin was discharged and returned home on Sept 26 to tears and applause from the medical team.
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