Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation recipients: an observational cohort study
Study (n=318) found recipients of autologous and allogeneic HSCT who develop COVID-19 have poor overall survival (67%and 68%, respectively, at 30 days after diagnosis of COVID-19).Age >50yr and infection <12 months after transplantation were risk factors for mortality.
Source:
The Lancet Haematology
SPS commentary:
A related commentary states that two important messages can be drawn from the results of this study. The first is the confirmation that the prognosis of COVID-19 is particularly poor in haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients, and that its prevention, in the absence of any specific curative treatment with sufficient efficacy, should be at the forefront of concerns. Despite the fact that most patients in the study were diagnosed more than 1 year post transplantation, and that only 18% of allogeneic HSCT recipients had received immunosuppression within 6 months of COVID-19 diagnosis, at least 14% had severe disease requiring mechanical ventilation and 21% had died, with COVID-19 being the primary cause of death in the majority of cases. It concludes that a better understanding of the distinctive features of COVID-19 infection in HSCT recipients will be a necessary and essential step towards improvement of the remarkably poor prognosis observed in this setting.