INTERMITTENT OUTPATIENT BASED ECUM - A CASE-REPORT

Extracorporeal Ultrafiltration Method (ECUM) could be used in patients with refractory congestive heart failure (CHF). We have encountered a 56-year-old woman with refractory congestive heart failure (CHF) (NYH A II-III) due to coronary artery disease, complicated by moderately ad vanced diabetic nephropathy (Cr = 2.4 mg/dl). Due to the non-responsiv eness to medical treatments, she has begun receiving the intermittent ECUM once or twice a week on an outpatient basis. ECUM effectively red uced cardiac preload and temporarily relieved her intractable respirat ory distress. Based on our present clinical experience, we propose tha t one could consider an outpatient based intermittent ECUM as one of t he useful therapeutic modalities to ameliorate refractory CHF.