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Review
. 2021 Jan 28;18(3):1173.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031173.

Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in COVID-19-Where Are We Now?

Zbigniew Putowski  1 , Anna Szczepańska  2 , Marcelina Czok  1 , Łukasz J Krzych  2
Affiliations
Review

Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in COVID-19-Where Are We Now?

Zbigniew Putowski et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The recent development in extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has created new therapeutic opportunities for critically ill patients. An interest in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), the pinnacle of ECLS techniques, has recently increased, as for the last decade, we have observed improvements in the survival of patients suffering from severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) while on ECMO. Although there is a paucity of conclusive data from clinical research regarding extracorporeal oxygenation in COVID-19 patients, the pathophysiology of the disease makes veno-venous ECMO a promising option.

Keywords: acute respiratory distress syndrome; acute respiratory failure; coronavirus disease 2019; veno-venous extracorporeal oxygenation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A scheme of the VV-ECMO circuit. VV-ECMO– Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Conventional VV-ECMO indications for ARDS ([32], self-modified). VV-ECMO—Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, ARDS—Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, PaO2—partial pressure of arterial oxygen, FiO2—fraction of inspired oxygen, PaCO2—partial pressure of carbon dioxide.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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