Ms Pentleton is monitored 24-hours a day by an array of equipment and a team of specialists.
She arrived on Thursday evening after Swedish doctors chartered a private jet to fly the two hours to Scotland to pick her up.
Crister Classon, a spokesman for the hospital, said: 'We are happy to help Britain or any other country if they run out of beds.
'It is a normal procedure to help other countries when they need it.
'We have only four beds and we currently have two swine flu patients in them, so there there are presently only two spare beds.'
It is thought a second British patient may be transferred to the unit.
The hospital's Dr Palle Palmer explained that the ECMO machine - similar to a heart and lung machine - was used to 'buy time' for patients. He said people could be kept on the machine for up to two months, but added that most patients did not need ECMO treatment for that long. He said: 'Normally it takes about two weeks, that's the normal treatment. But it is possible to run it for longer.
The Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, where doctors had hoped to treat Miss Pentleton, has the first designated ECMO unit for adults in the UK. But because it was full - with two of its five machines already being used by swine flu patients- medics turned to Stockholm.
ECMO treatment has only recently been accepted into mainstream NHS practice, being regarded as experimental in adults until the completion of a trial six months ago. Seriously sick children have been successfully treated for some time.
Best chance: Scottish health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said it was vital Miss Pentleton was transferred to Sweden
Consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon Mr Richard Firmin director of the ECMO unit in Leicester, said an average of 100 patients a year are treated there and beds could be expanded to 10 if absolutely necessary.
Patients are attached to an ECMO machine while their lungs recover from a variety of conditions, including viral infections and trauma. It involves circulating the patient's blood outside the body and adding oxygen to it artificially, Mr Firmin said 'The circuit is basically an external lung. Anybody who ends up with ECMO is somebody who is at the very severest end of lung failure.'
Patients may need treatment for two to eight weeks, at a cost of £55,000 to £105,000 per patient. Professor David Menon, an intensive care specialist at Cambridge University, said a small minority of swine flu victims who need intensive care have suffered a direct viral attack on their lungs, rather than a secondary infection. The condition called pneumonitis involves destruction of lung tissue.
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WalkieTalkie, RN
674 Posts
An update on our 2 ECMO patients:
20-year-old male is doing better. Decannulated on Monday. Now on 30% FiO2 by vent. Will probably need a trach unless they can get him off in the next couple of days. He's making purposeful movements but not following commands yet (was on paralytics and a lot of benzo sedation throughout ECMO course). He's still needing some sedation for vent dyssynchrony, so I think he will probably wake up once he's either trached or extubated.
Old heart tx patient also decannulated on Monday. He's now on 40% FiO2 and 10 of PEEP, and I was unable to wean it. He already had ESRD and he's been on SLED and continues to be on SLED, and needs pressor support. During ECMO, the patient's cannulas cavitated so badly with positioning that staff were unable to turn the patient during therapy... he's got a huge decub now
I'd say his chances of making it out of the hospital are very slim.
We currently have 4 H1N1 confirmed and 1 suspicious (awaiting PCR) on vents on our 12 bed CVICU. All other ICU beds are full and the brass are allowing overtime and actually putting some of the less sick ICU patients in the PACU while this is going on. We have about 50 adult ICU beds, not including places that can take "overflow" vents such as Burn.
Now I have flu-like symptoms, so I won't know what's going on until next week.
On a side-note, I probably didn't get my illness from the hospital where I wear proper PPE. I think I got it from one of the various Halloween parties I attended over the weekend as it had been six days since I was last at work and developed symptoms.