Experience of International Air Transportation and Subsequent Lung Transplant in a Patient with COVID-19-associated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: a Case Report.

We report an inspiring case of a 55-year-old Korean female diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in Mexico. The patient was assessed for lung transplant as a salvage therapy for treatment-refractory ARDS following no signs of clinical improvement for > 7 weeks, despite best treatment. The patient was transported from Mexico to Korea by air ambulance under venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. She was successfully bridged to lung transplant on day 88, 49 days after the initiation of ECMO support. ECMO was successfully weaned at the end of operation, and no bleeding or primary graft dysfunction was observed within the first 72 hours. The patient was liberated from mechanical ventilation on postoperative day 9 and transferred to the general ward 5 days later. Despite the high doses of immunosuppressants, there was no evidence of viral reactivation after transplant. At 3 months post-transplantation, she was discharged to home without complication. Our experience suggests that successful lung transplant for COVID-19-associated ARDS is feasible even in a patient with prolonged pre-transplant ECMO support. Lung transplant may be considered a salvage therapy for COVID-19-associated ARDS that does not respond to conventional treatments.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Coronavirus Disease 2019: Expert Recommendations from The Korean Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Since the first reported case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2019, the numbers of confirmed cases and deaths have continued to increase exponentially despite multi-factorial efforts. Although various attempts have been made to improve the level of evidence for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment over the past 10 years, most experts still hesitate to take an active position on whether to apply ECMO in COVID-19 patients. Several ECMO management guidelines have been published recently, but they reflect some important differences from the Korean medical system and aspects of real-world medical practice in Korea. We aimed to find evidence on the efficacy of ECMO for COVID-19 patients by reviewing the published literature and to propose expert recommendations by analyzing the Korean COVID-19 ECMO registry data.