Timely extracorporeal membrane oxygenation assist reduces mortality after bypass surgery in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Our study shows that timely ECMO-support is associated with earlier bilirubin-downtrend and higher survival in patients with AMI after CABG. Lactate-increase greater than 4 mmol/L seems to be a helpful threshold to trigger the timely onset of ECMO-therapy, providing better survival.