ASAIO journal : a peer-reviewed journal of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs
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SARS-CoV-2 may cause severe respiratory failure due to massive alveolar damage. Currently, no adequate curative therapy for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease exists. By considering overall impact of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, an increased need of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support becomes evident. We report on our preliminary institutional experience with COVID-19 patients receiving venovenous ECMO support.
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As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases surge worldwide, an urgent need exists to enhance our understanding of the role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the management of severely ill patients with COVID-19 who develop acute respiratory and cardiac compromise refractory to conventional therapy. The purpose of this manuscript is to review our initial clinical experience in 32 patients with confirmed COVID-19 treated with ECMO. A multi-institutional registry and database was created and utilized to assess all patients who were supported with ECMO provided by SpecialtyCare. ⋯ Analysis of these 32 COVID-19 patients with severe pulmonary compromise supported with ECMO suggests that ECMO may play a useful role in salvaging select critically ill patients with COVID-19. Additional patient experience and associated clinical and laboratory data must be obtained to further define the optimal role of ECMO in patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). These initial data may provide useful information to help define the best strategies to care for these challenging patients and may also provide a framework for much-needed future research about the use of ECMO to treat patients with COVID-19.