Had Attack And Received ECMO Treatment. Have Patches Of Skin And Numbness In Mouth And Face. Suggest?

Posted on Wed, 28 Aug 2013

Question: Have you any idea what caused my attack and can you tell me if there are any known side effects of receiving ECMO treatment? I've been off the machine for 4 weeks and have several numb patches of skin and intermittent numbness in my mouth and face (am suffering with reflux, could this cause numbness in mouth?).

Thanks

Answered by Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar (5 hours later)

Hello;

I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. I am a pulmonary and critical care specialist.

The side effects of receiving ECMO: there can be some hematologic side effects such as red blood cell issues after receiving ECMO. But overall there are not any long term side effects.

Reflux should not cause numbness in your mouth or any other region.

The numbness you are describing sounds atypical. It doesn't sound like M.S. Have you had an MRI of your XXXXXXX recently? This would typically show signs of M.S.

M.S. can cause respiratory failure...but not the kind of respiratory failure you had. It sounds like you have new onset/adult onset asthma. It would be hard to identify what set you off at this point. You should see an allergist to try to sort out what you are allergic to.

I hope this answers your questions. Please let me know if you need anything else.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T