What’s new?

“What’s new?” is a provocative question and inherently linked to the invaluable retrospection, “What’s old?”, or, at least, should prompt a thorough reflection on where things were before acquiring the latest information on a given topic. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and the newer extracorporeal life support (ECLS) have revolutionized acute and critical care in just a few decades. As everyone knows, these applications depend heavily on the use of technology in concert with state-of-the-art medical management for critically ill patients. This issue of the journal has several excellent papers on the latest information for clinicians and researchers involved in ECLS. Many of these reports are derived from past EuroELSO congresses, with six papers from the one held in London in 2022 and three others from Lisbon in 2023. As a bonus, if such a word can be used in a scientific journal, there is an in-depth analysis on the complex interplay of the native respiratory system and a veno-venous extracorporeal circuit.