Article by Cezar Titor – Published Monday, 06 April 2026, 18:24 / Updated on Monday, 06 April 2026 18:24
Mircea Lucescu, 80 years old, the former Romanian coach, is going through extremely difficult times, being admitted to the Emergency University Hospital in Bucharest. He suffered an acute myocardial infarction on Friday and was moved to intensive care on Sunday after his condition deteriorated overnight. At this moment, Mircea Lucescu is in a coma, kept alive with the help of machines.
In a press release issued today, the hospital announced that, for the moment, the initiated treatment will be continued. Tomorrow, “Il Luce's” condition will be reassessed, with the possibility of surgery and the fitting of a mechanical cardiac assist system, called ECMO, to be considered. What exactly is this?
What is ECMO and what does the procedure entail for Mircea Lucescu
ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, in translation “Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation”) is an advanced medical method of life support, used in critical situations, when the lungs or heart can no longer function properly.
The procedure involves removing blood from the body through special tubes, passing it through a device that oxygenates it and removes carbon dioxide, after which the blood is reintroduced into the body. Basically, ECMO temporarily takes over the role of the lungs and, in some cases, the heart.
This technique does not treat the cause of the disease, but gives the body time to recover or the doctors to apply other necessary treatments. ECMO is only used in intensive care units in very serious cases, such as severe respiratory failure or heart failure. It is a complex procedure with significant risks, but which can also have major benefits.
At the same time, the Romanian cardiologist who works in France, at the request of the family, is Marius Andronacheprimary cardiologist, specialized in arrhythmology and electrophysiology, with extensive experience in France, where he performed thousands of complex cardiac procedures (ablations, implants). He is a member of several medical societies and author of scientific works.
