COVID-19 in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

Altuntas, Fevzi; Ata, Naim; Yigenoglu, Tugce Nur; Bascı, Semih; Dal, Mehmet Sinan; Korkmaz, Serdal; Namdaroglu, Sinem; Basturk, Abdulkadir; Hacıbekiroglu, Tuba; Dogu, Mehmet Hilmi; Berber, İlhami; Dal, Kursat; Erkurt, Mehmet Ali; Turgut, Burhan; Ulgu, Mustafa Mahir; Celik, Osman; Akunal, Abdullah; Birinci, Suayip

In this study, we aim to report the outcome of COVID-19 in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. HCT recipients (n = 32) with hematological disease and hospitalized for COVID-19 were included in the study. A cohort of age and comorbid disease-matched hospitalized COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy but not underwent HCT (n = 465), and another cohort of age and comorbid disease-matched hospitalized COVID-19 patients without cancer (n = 497) were also included in the study for comparison. Case fatality rate (CFR) was 5.6% in patients without cancer, 11.8 in patients with hematological malignancy and 15.6% in HCT recipients. The CFR in HCT recipients who were not receiving immunosuppressive agents at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis was 11.5%, whereas it was 33% in HCT recipients who were receiving an immunosuppressive agent at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis. In conclusion, our study reveals that for the current pandemic, HCT recipients, especially those receiving immunosuppressive drugs, constitute a special population of cancer patients.