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BACKGROUND Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, is a worldwide pandemic. Some COVID-19 patients develop severe acute respiratory distress syndrome and progress to respiratory failure. In such cases, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment is a necessary life-saving procedure. CASE SUMMARY Two special COVID-19 cases—one full-term pregnant woman and one elderly (72-year-old) man—were treated by veno-venous (VV)-ECMO in the Second People’s Hospital of Zhongshan, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China. Both patients had developed refractory hypoxemia shortly after hospital admission, despite conventional support, and were therefore managed by VV-ECMO. Although both experienced multiple ECMO-related complications on top of the COVID-19 disease, their conditions improved gradually. Both patients were weaned successfully from the ECMO therapy. At the time of writing of this report, the woman has recovered completely and been discharged from hospital to home; the man remains on mechanical ventilation, due to respiratory muscle weakness and suspected lung fibrosis. As ECMO itself is associated with various complications, it is very important to understand and treat these complications to achieve optimal outcome. CONCLUSION VV-ECMO can provide sufficient gas exchange for COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, it is crucial to understand and treat ECMO-related complications.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic outbreak. Patients with COVID-19 are prone to progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and even severe ARDS with ineffective mechanical ventilation, and an extremely high mortality. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) provides effective respiratory support and saves time for the treatment of severe COVID-19. The present study reports that a 31-year-old pregnant female infected by COVID-19, who suffered from fever, dyspnea, and rapid ARDS. The patient's pulmonary function gradually recovered by combining early mechanical ventilation and ECMO, and finally, this patient was successfully weaned from ECMO and the ventilator. No fibrosis lesions were found in the chest CT, and the patient recovered very well after leaving from the hospital for one month.