ASAIO J 2021 Feb 26. Epub 2021 Feb 26.
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Washington, USA Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of Washington, USA General ICU, University Hospital of Parma, Italy Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Italy Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine Children's Medical Center of Dallas, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Extracorporeal Life Support Organization, President; Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA Center for Acute Respiratory Failure, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, USA University of Michigan Department of Critical Care, Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition Service de médecine intensive-réanimation, Institut de Cardiologie, APHP Sorbonne Université Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, F-75013 PARIS, France Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery - Maastricht University Medical Centre - Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht Maastricht, The Netherlands Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany Nemours Children's Health System Congenital Heart Center, Departments of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA Intensive Care Unit, Alfred Health Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Critical Care ECMO service, King Saud Medical City - Ministry Of Health (MOH), Riyadh - Saudi Arabia. Fundación Cardiovascular de Colombia Service de Médecine Intensive-Réanimation, Institut de Cardiologie, AP-HP, Sorbonne Université Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France. Sorbonne Université, GRC n°30, GRC RESPIRE, INSERM, UMRS_1166-ICAN, Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition, Paris, France. Adult Intensive Care Services, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia National University Hospital, Singapore Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA Center for Acute Respiratory Failure, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, USA.
This is an updated guideline from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) for the role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The great majority of COVID-19 patients (>90%) requiring ECMO have been supported using venovenous (V-V) ECMO for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). While COVID-19 ECMO run duration may be longer than in non-COVID-19 ECMO patients, published mortality appears to be similar between the two groups. However, data collection is ongoing, and there is a signal that overall mortality may be increasing. Conventional selection criteria for COVID-19-related ECMO should be used; however, when resources become more constrained during a pandemic, more stringent contraindications should be implemented. Formation of regional ECMO referral networks may facilitate communication, resource sharing, expedited patient referral, and mobile ECMO retrieval. There are no data to suggest deviation from conventional ECMO device or patient management when applying ECMO for COVID-19 patients. Rarely, children may require ECMO support for COVID-19-related ARDS, myocarditis or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C); conventional selection criteria and management practices should be the standard. We strongly encourage participation in data submission to investigate the optimal use of ECMO for COVID-19.