adj. situated or occurring outside the body. Extracorporeal circulation is the circulation of the blood outside the body, as through a *heart-lung machine or in *haemodialysis.
(ECMO) a technique that is accepted as a rescue treatment for otherwise fatal respiratory failure in newborn babies or infants due to prematurity or overwhelming septicaemia (e.g. meningitis). It involves modified prolonged *cardiopulmonary bypass to support gas exchange, which allows the lungs to rest and recover. ECMO is only available in selected high-technology centres.... extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
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