A patient with COVID-19 treated with ECMO for 26 days

ABSTRACT

In December 2019, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported in Wuhan, China, which was subsequently reported in other countries worldwide. COVID-19 is typically an acute self-limited disease that can rarely be fatal with a 5.6% case mortality rate (May, 2020), mainly due to substantial damage to pulmonary alveolar structures, and subsequent respiratory failure. Given the previous experience, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been proven to be an effective therapy in the treatment of respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). On the basis of similar principle, ECMO may also be an effective therapy in the treatment of severe COVID-19. However, due to huge cost, it is not common to apply ECMO continuously for a long time. We, herein, describe a COVID-19 pneumonia patient, a 77-year female, who was treated with ECMO for 26 days. The hospitalisation costs of the patient were highest in Jilin Province.