Treatment for severe flu at UAB Hospital

Physicians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are using a new technology known as ECMO as a last-resort therapy for extremely severe cases of the flu. ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is a sort of portable heart/lung bypass machine. The machine was first developed for use in heart bypass surgery, but it has now also been used as a bridge to heart or lung transplantation as well as the treatment of severe lung diseases.