COVID-19 treatment of Japan for positive results

Medical experts in Japan have recently said that artificially assisted cardiopulmonary support (ECMO) treatments for patients with COVID-19 are showing encouraging preliminary results.

According to the Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Tokyo, the results of the survey conducted by the Centralized Medical Treatment Association and the Japan Medical Emergency Association on 300 medical facilities across Japan showed that, among at least 23 COVID-19 patients treated with ECMO method had 12 recovering and no deaths.

Dr. Kutsuna Satoshi at Japan's National Center for Global Health and Health (NCGM) said the center has treated 15 COVID-19 patients, including those aboard Diamond Princess and people returning from the center of the Wuhan epidemic in China. Among these, there was an elderly patient with symptoms of fever for 1 week and then severe pneumonia with manifestations such as severe coughing and sputum production. Initially the patient was treated with AIDS medication but the condition did not improve but worsened. However, the patient who gradually recovered after 2 weeks was treated with ECMO to reduce the lung activity load.

Picture 1 of COVID-19 treatment of Japan for positive results

Diamond Princess is anchored at the port of Yokohama, Japan on February 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS / TTXVN

The ECMO treatment, also known as the body's outer membrane, is used when the patient's lung function is weakened by a virus attack. The ECMO system will then be used to temporarily replace lung function by removing blood from the body, removing carbon and adding oxygen to red blood cells, then giving the blood to be added. Oxygen returns to the body and waits for the patient's immune system to eliminate the virus in the body. ECMO machine can replace up to 4 liters of blood in about 1 minute.

However, ECMO is a very complex and highly specialized technique, so treatment with this method in Japan has not been widespread until now. Dr. Satoshi said the number of ECMO devices and the number of medical staff using this device in Japan is not much, so Japan prioritizes treatment with this method for serious patients.

With these positive results, ECMO Association President Takeshi Shinhiro said that the association will make efforts to improve the quality of this treatment method, and at the same time capture information about medical facilities with machines. ECMO and has experienced doctors in using this system to advise patients on how to effectively treat patients.

As of morning 13/3, Japan recorded 4 more deaths due to COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 26, including 7 cases on the Diamond Princess. The number of people infected with COVID-19 in Japan has increased by 53 to 1,387, including 697 aboard the Diamond Princess.