This was done in order to prevent possible lung injury associated with being put on a ventilator, which is more common in transplanted lungs.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFPLO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE secretary-general Saeb Erekat speaks in Khan al-Ahmar on Thursday. (photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)
Veteran PLO official Saeb Erekat was connected to an ECMO machine, Hadassah Medical center said on Tuesday night.Using this machine allows the blood to be oxygenated while allowing the lungs to rest, and was done in order to prevent possible lung injury associated with being put on a ventilator which occurs more commonly in transplanted lungs. Erekat underwent a lung transplant in 2017."He is now well-settled and stable on ECMO with excellent oxygenation - and on reduced mechanical ventilation which is not damaging to the lungs," Hadar Elboim, Hadassah Medical Organization spokesperson said."His care continues to be coordinated with lung transplant specialists in Israel and abroad to provide optimum care to this patient with complications of Covid-19 infection on the background of a previous lung transplant."Saeb Erekat, who contracted the coronavirus earlier this month, was intubated on Monday after his condition worsened, and he is now considered in critical condition in Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem.On Monday the hospital issued a statement reporting that Erekat was "ventilated on high concentration of oxygen and on nitric oxide gas and is in the prone position. He has received concentrated convalescent plasma with high levels of anti-Covid antibodies."Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
