ELSO

ELSO
Name	Extracorporeal Life Support Organization
Abbreviation	ELSO
Formation	1989
Type	Non-profit professional consortium
Headquarters	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Region served	Global
Membership	Physicians, nurses, perfusionists, respiratory therapists

ELSO The Extracorporeal Life Support Organization is an international consortium that advances extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and related technologies. It serves as a hub for clinicians from centers such as Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Great Ormond Street Hospital to share data, guidelines, and training. Working with professional bodies including American Heart Association, American Thoracic Society, European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and World Health Organization, the organization influences practice across hospitals, universities, and regulatory agencies.

Overview

The organization promotes best practices in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation through a global registry used by institutions like University of Michigan Health, Mount Sinai Health System, UCSF Medical Center, Stanford Health Care, and Karolinska University Hospital. Members include clinicians affiliated with Royal Brompton Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Toronto General Hospital, Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto), and Tokyo Medical University Hospital. It collaborates with societies such as European Society for Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care, American Academy of Pediatrics, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, and British Thoracic Society to harmonize standards. Partnerships extend to agencies like Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and World Bank for policy and funding alignment.

History

Founded in 1989 by clinicians including leaders from University of Washington Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of California, San Francisco, and Duke University Hospital, the group originated from meetings at conferences such as American Thoracic Society International Conference and International ECMO Symposium. Early contributors included teams associated with Harvard Medical School, Yale-New Haven Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Over decades it issued statements during outbreaks like H1N1 influenza pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic, and supported responses to incidents involving SARS and MERS. Funding and recognition arrived via awards and grants from bodies including Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, European Commission, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Organizational Structure and Membership

Governance involves a board with representatives from academic centers such as Johns Hopkins University, University College London Hospitals, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Oxford University Hospitals, and University of Toronto. Committees comprise experts from Columbia University Irving Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne). Membership spans clinicians trained at institutions like Karolinska Institutet, McGill University Health Centre, Seoul National University Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, and Auckland City Hospital. Affiliations include industry partners such as Getinge, Medtronic, Sorin Group, Stryker Corporation, and Edwards Lifesciences while maintaining ties with accreditation bodies like Joint Commission and National Health Service (England).

Clinical Guidelines and Standards

Guidelines are developed by panels including experts from American College of Cardiology, European Respiratory Society, Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators (PALISI), International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, and American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Recommendations draw on evidence from randomized trials at centers such as University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Mayo Clinic Proceedings contributors, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and international trials coordinated with NIH Clinical Center. Protocols encompass cannulation techniques taught at Royal Adelaide Hospital, anticoagulation practices informed by research at Weill Cornell Medicine, and transport standards used by CareFlight and Air Ambulance Service providers. The organization issues position papers on pediatric care citing work from St. Louis Children's Hospital, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and Texas Children's Hospital.

Education, Training, and Conferences

Training programs include courses modeled after curricula from American Society of Extracorporeal Technology, simulation centers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Simulation Center, and workshops run with faculty from University of California, San Diego, Emory University School of Medicine, Monash Health, and The Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne). Annual meetings attract delegates from Society of Critical Care Medicine Congress, European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Annual Congress, American Thoracic Society Meeting, and International Society for ECMO. Hands-on fellowships are offered in collaboration with Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, and National University Hospital (Singapore). Educational materials reference textbooks and monographs from publishers affiliated with Oxford University Press, Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley-Blackwell.

Research, Registry, and Data Initiatives

The global registry aggregates case data submitted by centers such as Mayo Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and international partners including Auckland City Hospital, St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto), and Sheba Medical Center. Research collaborations have involved networks like National Institutes of Health, European Respiratory Society, UK Research and Innovation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Data initiatives use standards from Health Level Seven International and coordinate multicenter studies with groups at McMaster University, University of Sydney, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Fudan University. Outcomes research has influenced practice at transplant centers like UCLA Health and trauma centers such as University of Utah Health.

Impact and Criticism

Impact is evident in clinical adoption at tertiary centers including Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Massachusetts General Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, and Royal Brompton Hospital, and in policy guidance used by World Health Organization and national health agencies. Criticisms address registry biases noted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and concerns about industry influence flagged by ethicists at University of Oxford and King's College London. Debates over cost-effectiveness involve economists from National Bureau of Economic Research, The Brookings Institution, Commonwealth Fund, and OECD. Quality improvement advocates from Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have called for enhanced transparency and randomized trials coordinated with networks like ClinicalTrials.gov and European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network.

Category:Medical organizations