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Article description

Summary:

• Data on ECMO efficacy in COVID-19-related ARDS are limited and mainly represented case reports or single centres’ experiences.
• This review aimed to summarise evidence from all available studies to assess the mortality of patients with COVID-19 treated with VV ECMO.
• A systematic review and meta-analysis including 58,472 patients included in the 134 studies reporting hospitalised patients with COVID-19 managed with ECMO until February 2021; of them, six studies were eligible for the comparative meta-analysis of COVID-19 versus influenza.
• Notably, a total of 4,044 out of 58,472 (6.9%) patients with COVID-19 received VV ECMO for a mean duration of 15 days, 71% of them were male.
• The investigators identified an overall mortality rate of 39% (1,508/3,793 patients from 102 studies).
• The comparative meta-analysis between using ECMO in 350 patients infected with COVID-19 and influenza mortality was higher in the former (RR 1.34; 95% CI 1.05-1.71; p?=?0.03).
• The review is limited because it included observational studies with heterogeneity, incomplete data, and bias risk, and it can be impacted by duplicate publication bias

Conclusions:

• ECMO could benefit patients with COVID-19, according to the authors’ meta-analysis. The reported mortality rate was 39%. This systematic analysis can provide clinical advice in the current era and ongoing pandemic.