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Review
. 2020 Jun;35(6):1298-1301.
doi: 10.1111/jocs.14635. Epub 2020 May 22.

The role of ECMO in COVID-19: Can it provide rescue therapy in those who are critically ill?

Sugeevan Savarimuthu  1 , Jalal BinSaeid  2 , Amer Harky  2
Affiliations
Review

The role of ECMO in COVID-19: Can it provide rescue therapy in those who are critically ill?

Sugeevan Savarimuthu et al. J Card Surg. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Arising from the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in China, a novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has been rapidly spreading since its first presentation in late 2019. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic on the 11th March 2020, and as of 29th of April 2020 more than 3 million cases have been reported worldwide with over 225 000 confirmed deaths. Where mechanical ventilation may not be enough, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) could play a role as a form of rescue therapy and may provide beneficial results in the hands of skilled clinicians in centers with experience of using ECMO appropriately in selected patients. Our understanding of COVID-19 is ever-changing and the need for intensive care beds is rising, which means that ECMO will surely play a key role in the near future.

Keywords: COVID-19; ECMO; critical care; extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

References

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