ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The life-support option known as ECMO appears to help many of the critically ill COVID-19 patients who received it, according to a study led by a University of Michigan researcher. That’s similar to the rate for patients treated with ECMO in past outbreaks of lung-damaging viruses and other severe forms of viral pneumonia. More than half the patients int he study were treated in hospitals in the United States and Canada, including Michigan Medicine’s hospitals. More than 80 percent of them within 24 hours of a proactive decision to discontinue ECMO care because of a poor prognosis. The new study added to the information used to create the ECMO COVID-19 guidelines published by ELSO.