Clinical epidemiology and outcomes of COVID-19 patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support in Japan: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the clinical epidemiology and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 who received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the Osaka Prefecture, Japan. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of COVID-19 patients who received ECMO. Among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 29 and November 9, 2020, we targeted patients who received ECMO. The outcome was all-cause mortality. The baseline characteristics of the COVID-19 patients who received ECMO were summarized according to the outcome. A univariable logistic regression model was applied to evaluate the association of each factor (sex, age group, city of residence, presence of comorbidities, presence of close contact, use of dialysis, and wave) with all-cause mortality. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: Among the 14,864 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study period, 39 patients received ECMO. Fourteen patients (35.9%) died. All patients aged 30–39 years survived, whereas all patients aged ≥80 years died. Higher mortality was observed among patients in the higher age group, and the P value for trend was significant (P value for trend: 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Of the 14,864 COVID-19 patients in Osaka Prefecture until November 2020, 39 underwent ECMO. Of these, 14 died.