The use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in clinical practice

COVID‐19, ECMO, and respiratory infection: A new triad?

“…The employment of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as supportive therapy for COVID‐19‐related ARDS has also been advocated for by the WHO and Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) 5 . This rescue therapy 6 is primarily recommended as a last resort, subsequent to unavailing results from conventional therapies 7 for COVID‐19 patients with a limited number of co‐morbidities who do not have severe multisystem organ failure 8 . Yet, according to the ELSO Registry, the in‐hospital mortality rate remains as high as 47% 9 .…”