Extracorporeal support, during and after lung transplantation: the history of an idea

Experience is one of the cornerstones of the success of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) in lung transplantation (Figure 1). Over the last 20 years, from the initial case reports on ECLS as rescue before and after lung transplantation (1,2), experience and self-confidence with this technique has grown so much that it is impossible to think of lung transplantation without ECLS nowadays