ABSTRACT
The course of COVID-19 with an incidence of 15-42% can be complicated by the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The mortality rate with severe forms exceeds 60%, which sometimes requires extracorporeal methods of life support. AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse the therapeutic efficacy of V-V ECMO in patients with ARDS caused by SARS-CoV-2. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed in patients with acute lung injury caused by COVID-19 and treated with V-V ECMO within a period from February 2020 to May 2021 at the ECMO Center of the Heart Institute Ministry of Health of Ukraine. All patients had PCR testing for viral RNA particles using RT-PCR ELITe analyser. RESULTS: During this period, 7 cases reported of V-V ECMO for ARDS caused by COVID-19. Five of seven patients were urgently transferred to our ECMO Center from other medical institutions, while 2 patients were transferred to the hospital being already connected to ECMO, and one patient was connected to ECMO immediately after hospitalization. The most common ECMO complication was circuit thrombosis - 42.9% (3/7), which required oxygenator replacement - in 2 cases and circuit replacement - in 1 case. Three patients had bleeding at the cannulation site. ECMO mortality rate was 57.1% (4/ 7), while the 30-day mortality rate - 71.4% (5/7). CONCLUSIONS: In our case series, out of seven critically ill COVID-19 patients who required ECMO to maintain adequate oxygenation, inpatient mortality was observed in 71.4%.