Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation as a Preoperative Bridge for Infective Endocarditis: A Case Report and Review

Infective endocarditis (IE) complicated by refractory cardiopulmonary failure carries high mortality, and standardized protocols for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are lacking. We report a 31 year old male with fulminant IE, severe aortic regurgitation, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and refractory cardiogenic shock who was initially supported with venovenous (VV) ECMO for isolated respiratory failure. Due to progressive hemodynamic deterioration, configuration was converted to veno-arterial (VA) ECMO, followed by emergency aortic valve replacement and targeted antimicrobial therapy. The patient achieved successful decannulation and discharge. To contextualize this case, we conducted a systematic literature review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, identifying 21 additional cases (2000–2025), forming a 22-patient cohort. Pooled analysis demonstrated an overall in-hospital survival rate of 81.8% (18/22) with ECMO bridging. Surgical treatment significantly improved survival compared with conservative management (94.4% vs. 25%). These findings suggest that ECMO is a feasible bridge-to-surgery strategy for IE with refractory cardiopulmonary failure. However, given the significant risk of publication bias inherent to case report data, we propose a hypothesis-generating management algorithm emphasizing individualized mode selection and early surgical source control, rather than definitive clinical guidelines. Large-scale prospective studies are required for validation.