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Multicenter Study
. 2020 Dec 1;105(12):2872-2878.
doi: 10.3324/haematol.2020.262758.

Clinical characteristics and outcome of multiple myeloma patients with concomitant COVID-19 at Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Germany

Monika Engelhardt  1 , Khalid Shoumariyeh  1 , Amelie Rösner  1 , Gabriele Ihorst  2 , Francesca Biavasco  1 , Katharina Meckel  3 , Ivana von Metzler  4 , Sebastian Treurich  5 , Holger Hebart  6 , Matthias Grube  7 , Miriam Kull  8 , Florian Bassermann  9 , Kerstin Schäfer-Eckart  10 , Anette Hoferer  11 , Hermann Einsele  3 , Leo Rasche  3 , Ralph Wäsch  1
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Clinical characteristics and outcome of multiple myeloma patients with concomitant COVID-19 at Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Germany

Monika Engelhardt et al. Haematologica. .
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Time point, when multiple myeloma (MM) patients aquired COVID-19 infection, key differences of patients with (w) versus without (w/o) intensive care (ICU) needs and learning experience of COVID-19 infection in MM. (A) Time point, when multiple myeloma (MM) patients acquired COVID-19 during their disease course, which was rather early than later and at a median of 20 months after the initial diagnosis (ID). (B) Key differences of patients w versus w/o ICU needs, who expectedly showed a worse Karnofsky performance status (KPS) in those ICU patients and who also had more comorbidities, higher R-MCI and IMWG-scores. These ICU patients also seemed to show a slightly longer time span from symptoms to COVID-19-testing and a lower absolute lymphocyte count (ALC). (C) Learning experience of possible risks for COVID-19 infection is displayed, who were in our series males in 81%, intermediate-fit or frail via R-MCI and IMWG scores in 48% and 62%, respectively and acquired COVID-19 infection fairly early during the MM course. This might be due to a "loss" of more vulnerable patients earlier (first 2 years after ID), so that later in the MM disease course, only more stoic or inured patients may survive who may be less prone to COVID-19 infection. Moreover, COVID-19 infection occurred in both patients on active MM treatment and in those without. We performed a MM therapy pause in all patients, both in milder or more substantial cases and observed no death. We recommend to stay vigilant on COVID-19, observe all precautions as described,2,3 avoid undertreatment and follow-up losses, restart anti-MM therapy with full COVID-19 recovery and encourage our MM patients and experts, that with maximum support, COVID-19 may not lead to a more dismal outcome compared to the general population.9,10
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References

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