The successful use of extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation in the management of a pregnant woman with severe H1N1 2009 influenza complicated by pneumonitis and adult respiratory distress syndrome

We report a case of H1N1 2009 influenza A, in a previously fit woman at 24 weeks of gestation, who presented atypically with abdominal pain. The infection was complicated by severe respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome, requiring ventilatory support, including extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This was one of the first cases of severe H1N1 disease presenting in the UK. Use of extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation for the complications of H1N1 resulted in full maternal recovery and subsequent delivery of a healthy infant.