Munshi L, et al. - Researchers assessed the mortality in relation to venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, by analyzing randomised controlled trials and observational studies with matching of conventional mechanical ventilation with and without venovenous ECMO in adults with acute respiratory distress syndrome. These studies were identified from MEDLINE (including MEDLINE In-Process and Epub Ahead of Print), Embase and Cochrane database. Overall, 5 studies, 2 randomised controlled trials and 3 observational studies with matching techniques (total N=773 patients) were analyzed. Findings revealed reduced 60-day mortality in association with the use of venovenous ECMO vs conventional mechanical ventilation in adults with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, a moderate risk of major bleeding was also reported in relation to venovenous ECMO use.