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Review
. 2023 Oct 13;15(4):562-577.
doi: 10.3390/hematolrep15040059.

A Review of Hematological Complications and Treatment in COVID-19

Armand N Yazdani  1 , Arian Abdi  1 , Prathosh Velpuri  1 , Parth Patel  1 , Nathaniel DeMarco  1 , Devendra K Agrawal  2 , Vikrant Rai  2
Affiliations
Review

A Review of Hematological Complications and Treatment in COVID-19

Armand N Yazdani et al. Hematol Rep. .

Abstract

COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, and its variants have spread rapidly across the globe in the past few years, resulting in millions of deaths worldwide. Hematological diseases and complications associated with COVID-19 severely impact the mortality and morbidity rates of patients; therefore, there is a need for oversight on what pharmaceutical therapies are prescribed to hematologically at-risk patients. Thrombocytopenia, hemoglobinemia, leukopenia, and leukocytosis are all seen at increased rates in patients infected with COVID-19 and become more prominent in patients with severe COVID-19. Further, COVID-19 therapeutics may be associated with hematological complications, and this became more important in immunocompromised patients with hematological conditions as they are at higher risk of hematological complications after treatment. Thus, it is important to understand and treat COVID-19 patients with underlying hematological conditions with caution. Hematological changes during COVID-19 infection and treatment are important because they may serve as biomarkers as well as to evaluate the treatment response, which will help in changing treatment strategies. In this literature review, we discuss the hematological complications associated with COVID-19, the mechanisms, treatment groups, and adverse effects of commonly used COVID-19 therapies, followed by the hematological adverse events that could arise due to therapeutic agents used in COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID therapy; COVID-19; COVID-19 management; hematological events.

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Conflict of interest statement

As the corresponding author, I declare that this manuscript is original; that the article does not infringe upon any copyright or other proprietary rights of any third party; that neither the text nor the figures have been reported or published previously. All the authors have no conflict of interest and have read the journal’s authorship statement.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathophysiology of hematological disorders in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection. SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to increased systemic vascular inflammation, platelet destruction, and infection of the lymphoid organs resulting in cardiovascular ischemic events, thrombocytopenia, and lymphopenia respectively. C-Reactive protein (CRP), interleukin (IL), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and Von Willebrand factor (VWF).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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