Successful Use of ECMO in the Treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Associated with SARS-CoV-2 in Two Pediatric Cases

SARS-CoV-2 infection, in the vast majority, affects adult patients. The severity of COVID-19 and mortality are directly correlated with the increasing age of patients and the number of comorbidities. However, with the further development of the COVID-19 pandemic, severe cases of COVID-19 have been reported in children. About 0.8-1% of sick children require hospitalization in an intensive care unit. The main syndromes that cause disease severity and mortality in children are acute respiratory distress syndrome, multisystem inflammation syndrome and multiple organ failure. The rapid development of severe respiratory failure and hypoxemia in respiratory distress syndrome leads to the use of various methods of respiratory therapy, and in case of their ineffectiveness to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In our report, we present two clinical cases of successful use of ECMO in children with COVID-19, who developed severe ARDS.