IABP plus ECMO—Is one and one more than two?

Prognosis of patients with cardiogenic shock or after cardiac arrest is poor, with no drugs at hand to substantially lower high mortality. Therefore, all hope is pinned on percutaneous life-supporting devices like intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) and others (1-4). The Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) Organization Registry International Report 2016 (5) contains information on 78,397 ECLS patients. In Germany, about 5,000 IABPs and 3,000 VA-ECMO systems have been implemented in 2014 (6).