Outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support for patients with COVID-19: A pooled analysis of 331 cases

Recently in this journal Chavez et al. [1] reviewed the current state of COVID-19, they noted that the role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was yet to established. Indeed, other authors have gone so far as to issue caution on the use of ECMO at all as a rescue therapy for severe acute, hypoxemic respiratory failure secondary to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [2]. An early pooled analysis of 17 patients receiving ECMO for COVID-19 suggests a mortality rate of 94.1% [3]. Extracorporeal Life Support Organisation (ELSO) members currently report 470 confirmed COVID-19 positive ECMO runs; however, mortality is unclear with many patients receiving ongoing therapy; and no hospitals close to the epicentre of this crisis are ELSO members [4].
Source: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Source Type: research