Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19-related Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Worth the Effort!
2020
Abstract
Continuous assessment of therapeutic interventions in clinical practice is of paramount importance, in particular in the field of critical care medicine. Falcoz and colleagues recently published a single-center case series of 16 patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for severe refractory respiratory failure.
Overall mortality was 35% at Day 60. Given the fact that average mortality in severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is reported to be around 45%, on the basis of Winston Churchill's aphorism, we see beautiful results but we would like to look at the strategy.