Prolonged persistence of SARS-CoV-2 infection during A+AVD therapy for classical Hodgkin's lymphoma: A case report.

We describe a case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a patient with mixed cellularity classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) undergoing brentuximab vedotin, doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (A+AVD) therapy. A 43-year-old man presented to our hospital with a complaint of fever, for which he was diagnosed with COVID-19 after a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and antiviral therapy with favipiravir and ciclesonide was started subsequently. The fever persisted for the first few days of treatment, but his respiratory status was stable, and he became asymptomatic and afebrile on day 9. Although the PCR tests remained positive, he met the updated discharge criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO) on day 12. However, his fever recurred, and his condition worsened on day 16. A chest X-ray showed a new opacity. It is likely that favipiravir and ciclesonide treatment probably did not completely eliminate the virus in the patient, and therefore the infection persisted. We added remdesivir from day 21, and the improvement was remarkable. He was discharged on day 29 after two consecutive PCR test results were negative. PCR tests are not mandatory for the updated WHO discharge criteria. However, even after antiviral therapy, COVID-19 patients with hematologic malignancies may have prolonged active infection with impaired viral excretion. Depending on the background disease and comorbidities, there may be some patient populations for whom it is not appropriate to simply comply with the current discharge criteria. Therefore, more emphasis may be needed on PCR examinations.

High levels of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies in COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory failure: a case-based review : High levels of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies in COVID-19.

We treated two patients with severe respiratory failure due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Case 1 was a 73-year-old woman, and Case 2 was a 65-year-old-man. Neither of them had a history of autoimmune disease. Chest computed tomography scans before the antiviral therapy showed bilateral multiple patchy ground-glass opacities (GGO) consistent with COVID-19 pneumonia. The GGO regressed over the course of the antiviral treatment; however, new non-segmental patchy consolidations emerged, which resembled those of interstitial lung disease (ILD), specifically collagen vascular disease-associated ILD. We tested the patients' sera for autoantibodies and discovered that both patients had high anti-SSA/Ro antibody titers. In Case 1, the patient recovered with antiviral therapy alone. However, in Case 2, the patient did not improve with antiviral therapy alone but responded well to corticosteroid therapy (methylprednisolone) and made a full recovery. The relationship between some immunological responses and COVID-19 pneumonia exacerbation has been discussed previously; our discovery of the elevation of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies suggests a contribution from autoimmunity functions of the immune system. Although it is unclear whether the elevation of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies was a cause or an outcome of aggravated COVID-19 pneumonia, we hypothesize that both patients developed aggravated the COVID-19 pneumonia due to an autoimmune response. In COVID-19 lung injury, there may be a presence of autoimmunity factors in addition to the known effects of cytokine storms. In patients with COVID-19, a high level of anti-SSA/Ro52 antibodies may be a surrogate marker of pneumonia severity and poor prognosis.