Doctors save infant with ECMO team

A baby named Adi was born – and then reborn – on the same day at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center.

When her parents, 30-year-old Na’ama and Ido Yekuti from Moshav Dovev on the Lebanese border, entered the delivery room, they expected to bring home with great joy a sister for their son. But the drama that began in the operating room after the birth continued.

After a normal pregnancy, Na’ama felt labor pains about a month ago. They rushed to the hospital for the normal birth that they expected. But when the infant’s head emerged, the obstetrical staff said she was suffering from respiratory distress due to the fact that she inhaled meconium – stools from the amniotic fluid.

“We waited to hear her cry and take her into our arms,” recalled Ido. “But from the team’s reactions, we understood that something was wrong, and they immediately began to treat her.”

As the baby’s condition deteriorated, the doctors removed the dirty water from her lungs, but it was still hard for her to breathe. To save her life, the Rambam team – Dr. Zvi Peled, Rami Heisler and Dr. Amir Hadash – decided to try the only remaining solution, to call the hospital’s ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) team, whose members know how to run a special heart-lung machine to take over for the heart and lungs for some time.

Attachment to ECMO requires very delicate surgical intervention, especially for a day-old baby; when it was finished, she was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit. After three weeks in the ward, her condition was much better.

“We are grateful,” the Yekutis said. “There is no doubt that the device and the Rambam staff saved her life. After her delivery, we thought there was no hope and were preparing for the worst.”

ECMOs are used in cases, most of them extreme, when the patient’s heart or lungs need to be given time for recovery. There are several ECMOs in the country, including one at Rambam, which can be transferred from one medical center to another, as needed.