Treatment for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome from COVID-19
Michael A Matthay
J Matthew Aldrich
Jeffrey E Gotts
Published:March 20, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30127-2
In The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Kollengode Ramanathan and colleagues1 provide excellent recommendations for the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for patients with respiratory failure from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The authors describe pragmatic approaches to the challenges of delivering ECMO to patients with COVID-19, including training health-care personnel, resolving equipment and facilities issues, implementing systems for infection control and personal protection, providing overall support for health-care staff, and mitigating ethical issues.