Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in children with COVID-19 and PIMS-TS during the second and third wave
Abstract
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) established a prospective survey1 including 52 European neonatal and paediatric centres and reported the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in seven children with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) related to COVID-19 and paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS; also known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children). All European neonatal and paediatric ECMO centres affiliated with ELSO were included in the survey.
Non-ELSO centres were also invited and included as representation for neonatal and paediatric ECMO centres in their respective country. The study was approved by the Maastricht University Ethical Committee (the coordinating centre) and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04366921).
Data were collected once per week and were reported as anonymised and deidentified using password-protected datasheets, and hence individual parent and patient consent was waived.