title: Current and future status of extracorporeal life support for respiratory failure in adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose is to review the development and current application of extracorporeal life support [ECLS, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)] in acute severe respiratory failure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Extracorporeal support (ECMO) is used for acute severe respiratory failure in advanced ICUs. The current survival rate is 60-70%. Three controlled trials all demonstrated 20-30% improvement in survival compared to conventional care. Patients may now be maintained awake and ambulatory with spontaneous breathing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ECMO is the next step in the algorithm for management of severe respiratory failure unresponsive to conventional care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.forename: Kristopher B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Deatrick
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D018450:Disease Progression; D015199:Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome