Right Heart Injury Monitoring on ECMO - RHIME
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility study for monitoring right ventricular injury in patients with severe acute respiratory failure supported with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
IRAS ID
368180
Contact name
Ana Caetano
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Some patients with life-threatening lung injury need support with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). This is a form of life support that takes over the lung function facilitating its recovery. While it can be lifesaving and expected to reduce the strain on the right side of the heart (which pumps blood to the lungs), it doesn’t always work as expected. In some cases, the right side of the heart
fails to improve - and in others, it worsens during VV-ECMO support. This is known as right ventricular injury (RVI), a complication known to lead to longer hospital stays and increased risk of death.
A recent expert statement highlighted the need for better ways to identify RVI, using a combination of heart scans and blood tests. However, there is currently no standard approach on when and how to do this.
With this project we aim to test the feasibility of a protocol to monitor RVI on patients supported with VV-ECMO for acute lung failure at Royal Papworth Hospital (RPH) NHS Foundation Trust.
During the study, patients will benefit from a consistent and comprehensive monitoring of their heart. This will include, beyond our standard practice, twice-weekly heart scans and blood tests aiming to detect heart strain earlier. This will allow us to track when heart strain begins or improves and recognise patterns over time. We might
also be able to identify unrecognised earlier markers of heart strain and/or recovery.
This study will help us understand if the suggested protocol is feasible and if it can be done on a larger scale (for example including all ECMO centres in the United Kingdom).REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/EE/0106
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion