The Damage Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Jacie Accredited Apheresis Unit and its Implications

The investigation aimed to determine whether there has been an increase in the amount of stem cells discarded due to patient mortality resulting from COVID-19 infection in our apheresis unit. Records were reviewed to investigate whether there were any differences in stem cell discards before and after the COVID-19 pandemic period following 2015.

In both periods, products retrieved from patients with myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma constituted the majority of discarded stem cells. The process of discarding 230 hematopoietic stem cell products that were discarded after 2015 involved a period of five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which half of the products were discarded, and the other half were discarded in the last 2.5 years of the pandemic. Over 90% of the discarded products were autologous stem cell products. Additionally, 43 patients had their products discarded due to mortality associated with COVID-19 infection. This number does not include those who passed away at home for unknown reasons or in cases where COVID-19 infection could not be confirmed. The disposal of a single hematopoietic stem cell product, including the cost of the collection bag and DMSO freezing, was approximately 5,000 Turkish Lira during that period. In our country, which has around 50 hematopoietic stem cell transplantation centers, if we assume an average of about 40 stem cell disposals per center, this would result in a total loss of approximately 10 million Turkish Lira (calculated as 5,000 TL x 40 x 50 centers = 10,000,000 TL). This figure does not account for personnel labor costs.

Furthermore, this review suggests that, similar to previous observations, preserving stem cells for second transplants in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and certain elderly myeloma patients may be unnecessary.