A research collaborator based at the Children’s Cancer Hospital 57357 participated in a research project and spotted the reasons behind poor outcomes of hematology patients who tested positive for covid19.
Hematology patients were found to develop lethal complications when tested positive for Covid19.
“The research study highlights factors leading to mortality in patients with hematological malignancies which may lead to better clinical management in these patients”, explained Dr. Riham Abdelaziz, researcher and pediatric oncology consultant at CCHE57357. “We, therefore, studied baseline characteristics of hematologic malignancy (HM) patients developing COVID-19 and analyzed predictors of mortality”, Dr. Abdelaziz added.
The survey was conducted by the Scientific Working Group Infection in Hematology of the European Hematology Association (EHA).
The study sample included 3801 hematologic malignant adult patients who tested positive for covid-19 between March and December 2020. Hematologic malignancy included lymphoproliferative (mainly non-Hodgkin lymphoma n = 1084, myeloma n = 684, and chronic lymphoid leukemia n = 474) and myeloproliferative malignancies (mainly acute myeloid leukemia n = 497 and myelodysplastic syndromes n = 279). According to this study, patients with severe to critical conditions due to COVID-19 were observed in 63.8% of patients (n = 2425). Moreover, it was found that overall, 2778 (73.1%) of the patients were hospitalized, 689 (18.1%) of whom were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Overall, 1185 patients (31.2%) died.
Furthermore, the study reveals that the primary cause of death was COVID-19 in 688 patients (58.1%), HM in 173 patients (14.6%), and a combination of both COVID-19 and developing hematological malignancy in 55 patients (13.1%). Finally, the highest mortality rate was observed in acute myeloid leukemia (199/497, 40%) and myelodysplastic syndromes (118/279, 42.3%). As such, the mortality risk in Acute myeloid leukemia was higher than that of lymphoproliferative diseases.
Also, among the paper’s findings was that the mortality rate between the first wave(March-May2020) &second wave of covid19 (October-December 2020) witnessed a marked decrease of mortality rates) (581/1427, 40.7% vs. 439/1773, 24.8%, p-value < 0.0001).
In the multivariable analysis, age, active malignancy, chronic cardiac disease, liver disease, renal impairment, smoking history, and ICU stay correlated with mortality.
From the above findings, it was concluded that COVID-19 patients with HM are at high risk of lethal complications. However, improved COVID-19 prevention has reduced mortality despite an increase in the number of reported cases.