Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as a rescue therapy for acute respiratory failure during chemotherapy in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia

Acute respiratory distresssyndrome ( ARDS) caused by pneumonia in patients with hematologic malignanciescan be life-threatening. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO) is the only temporary treatment for patients with ARDSwho are refractory to conventional treatment. However, the immunosuppression and coagulopathiesin hematological malignanciessuch as lymphoma and acute leukemiaare relative contraindicationsfor ECMO, due to high risksof infectionand bleeding. Here, we report a 22-year-old man with acute myeloid leukemia(AML) who developed pneumonia and ARDSduring induction chemotherapy; he was treated with ECMO.