Please note to the readers: some of these pictures may offend your sensibilities.

Nota per i lettori: alcune di queste immagini possono offendere la vostra sensibilità.

 Extracorporeal circulation (ECC) is a biomedical device that ensures the survival of surgical patients temporarily replacing the cardio-pulmonary functions. This is generally a sort of third movement that works artificially during surgery sucking the blood before it reaches the right heart, ie the superior vena cava and the lower (desaturated blood), cannulae and tubing conveyed through an oxygenator and then pushing in the arterial system of the patient.

The ECC, however, is only used during cardiac surgery, but also a wide use in operating rooms that perform transplants, during which you must work on the organ in question while continuing to keep the rest of ' body of the patient's blood supply. In these cases is not always used the heart-lung machine; in liver transplants in fact uses a device much simpler (it is essentially provided only a pump and pipes that carry blood to allow this and do sent back to the patient) that allows you to bypass the liver.

The ECC can also be used in thoracic surgery for patients with cancer or cardio-circulatory support in patients with heart failure.