Hematologic malignancies and COVID-19 infection: A monocenter retrospective study

Hematologic malignancies are risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection. Identification of risk factors correlated with mortality in these groups of patients is important in the assessment strategy. We studied the characteristics of patients with hematologic malignancies and COVID-19 and then analyzed the predictors of mortality.

Eligible for the analysis were hospitalized patients with hematologic malignancies and confirmed COVID-19 infection observed between January 2020 and March 2021. Patients were categorized based on the type of malignancy and phase of the treatment.

A total of 194 COVID-19 infected patients with hematologic malignancies were included. The median age was 44 (15-81) years; 135 of them were males and 59 were females. Acute myeloid leukemia was the most frequent cancer type (43.8%). A total of 119 patients had severe COVID-19 and 61 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit. A total of 92 deaths occurred in all cases for an overall case-fatality rate of 47%. Male gender, preinduction and induction phase of the treatment, intensive care admission, low levels of oxygen saturation, Rhesus (RH) factor positivity, and higher fibrinogen level correlated with mortality.

This study focuses on the epidemiology, risk factors, outcomes, and predictors of mortality of COVID-19 among patients with hematologic malignancies. Patients with hematologic malignancies are at high risk of mortality.