Inside STAT: How a Zoom forum is changing the way ICU doctors treat desperately ill Covid-19 patients

ESSENTIALLY AN ARTIFICIAL LUNG, ECMO CAN BE LIFE-SAVING FOR SOME OF THE MOST SEVERELY ILL COVID-19 PATIENTS, BUT IT HAS WORRISOME DRAWBACKS. (ALEX HOGAN/STAT)

In recent months, dozens of critical-care doctors from around the world have gathered virtually on Zoom on Friday afternoons to discuss their dilemmas with a life-support technology known as ECMO — or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. It's essentially an artificial lung that helps the sickest Covid-19 patients breathe when their lungs fail. Physicians are seeing an uptick of serious complications in patients on the machines, and the meetings have helped them find others with similar cases. In the absence of concrete answers on what may be happening, these Zoom meetings are now serving as an opportunity to figure out immediate solutions for those in need. STAT contributor Ron Winslow has more here.