Conclusion
The study included the largest number of patients with outcome findings
of ECMO in this current pandemic. Our findings showed that the use of
venovenous ECMO at high-volume ECMO centres may be beneficial for
selected COVID 19 patients with severe ARDS. However, none of the
included studies involve prospective randomized analyses; and therefore,
all the included studies were of low or moderate quality according to
the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. In the current era and environment of the
pandemic, it will likely be very challenging to conduct a prospective
randomized trial of ECMO versus no-ECMO for COVID-19. Therefore, the
information contained in this systematic review of the literature is
valuable and provides important guidance.