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Multicenter Study
. 2023 Feb 24:14:1125030.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1125030. eCollection 2023.

Outcome of COVID-19 in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients: Results from the EPICOVIDEHA registry

Alessandro Busca  1 , Jon Salmanton-García  2   3 , Francesco Marchesi  4 , Francesca Farina  5 , Guldane Cengiz Seval  6 , Jaap Van Doesum  7 , Nick De Jonge  8 , Nathan C Bahr  9 , Johan Maertens  10   11 , Joseph Meletiadis  12 , Nicola S Fracchiolla  13 , Barbora Weinbergerová  14 , Luisa Verga  15   16 , Zdeněk Ráčil  17 , Moraima Jiménez  18   19 , Andreas Glenthøj  20 , Ola Blennow  21 , Alina Daniela Tanase  22 , Martin Schönlein  23 , Lucia Prezioso  24 , Nina Khanna  25 , Rafael F Duarte  26 , Pavel Žák  27 , Marcio Nucci  28 , Marina Machado  29 , Austin Kulasekararaj  30   31 , Ildefonso Espigado  32 , Elizabeth De Kort  33 , José-María Ribera-Santa Susana  34 , Monia Marchetti  35 , Gabriele Magliano  36 , Iker Falces-Romero  37 , Osman Ilhan  6 , Emanuele Ammatuna  7 , Sofia Zompi  1 , Panagiotis Tsirigotis  12 , Anastasia Antoniadou  12 , Giovanni Paolo Maria Zambrotta  15   16 , Anna Nordlander  21 , Linda Katharina Karlsson  20 , Michaela Hanakova  17 , Giulia Dragonetti  38 , Alba Cabirta  18 , Caroline Berg Venemyr  20 , Stefanie Gräfe  2   3 , Jens Van Praet  39 , Athanasios Tragiannidis  40 , Verena Petzer  41 , Alberto López-García  42 , Federico Itri  43 , Ana Groh  44 , Eleni Gavriilaki  45 , Michelina Dargenio  46 , Laman Rahimli  2   3 , Oliver A Cornely  2   3   47   48   49 , Livio Pagano  50
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Outcome of COVID-19 in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients: Results from the EPICOVIDEHA registry

Alessandro Busca et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Background: The outcome of COVID-19 in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients is almost uniformely considered poor. The aim of present study was to retrospectively analyse the outcome and risk factors for mortality in a large series of patients who developed COVID-19 infection after an allogeneic HSCT.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study promoted by the European Hematology Association - Infections in Hematology Study Working Group, included 326 adult HSCT patients who had COVID-19 between January 2020 and March 2022.

Results: The median time from HSCT to the diagnosis of COVID-19 was 268 days (IQR 86-713; range 0-185 days). COVID-19 severity was mild in 21% of the patients, severe in 39% and critical in 16% of the patients. In multivariable analysis factors associated with a higher risk of mortality were, age above 50 years, presence of 3 or more comorbidities, active hematologic disease at time of COVID-19 infection, development of COVID-19 within 12 months of HSCT, and severe/critical infections. Overall mortality rate was 21% (n=68): COVID-19 was the main or secondary cause of death in 16% of the patients (n=53).

Conclusions: Mortality in HSCT recipients who develop COVID-19 is high and largely dependent on age, comorbidities, active hematologic disease, timing from transplant and severity of the infection.

Keywords: COVID-19 infection; SARS-CoV-2; allogeneic HSCT; hematological malignances; immunocompromised patients.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier overall survival curve after diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in 326 allogeneic HSCT recipients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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