ABSTRACT
Background: Immunocompromised patients, including those with hematological malignancies, are at a high risk of developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) complications. Currently, there is a limited number of systematic reviews into the efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancies. Therefore, the aim of this review was to systematically appraise the current evidence for the clinical benefits of this therapy in COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancies. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted up to April 2022, using four databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Scopus. Two reviewers independently assessed the quality of the included studies. Data collection analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 365 and GraphPad Prism software. Results: 18 studies met the inclusion criteria; these records included 258 COVID-19 patients who had hematological malignancies and were treated with CPT. The main findings from the reviewed data suggest that CPT may be associated with improved clinical outcomes, including (a) higher survival rate, (b) improved SARS-CoV-2 clearance and presence of detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies post CP transfusion, and (c) improved hospital discharge time and recovery after 1 month of CPT. Furthermore, treatment with convalescent plasma was not associated with the development of adverse events. Conclusions: CPT appears to be an effective supportive therapeutic option for hematological malignancy patients infected with COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is one of the first systematic reviews of the clinical benefits of CPT in COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancies.
ABSTRACT
The current COVID-19 pandemic emerged in December 2019, in China, affecting millions of people worldwide. COVID-19 is mainly a disease of the respiratory system, yet systematic complications have also been reported among SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. Thrombotic complications are one of the severe clinical outcomes of COVID-19, especially among critically ill patients, and are associated with poor prognosis. To date, many studies have concluded that COVID-19 increases the incidence of thrombotic events and coagulopathies; however, the exact mechanism behind such a disease outcome is not well known. Various pathophysiological mechanisms for thrombotic events in COVID-19 have been proposed, these include virus-induced endothelial cell damage, inflammation, and excess production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. As a result, most critically diseased COVID-19 patients are managed with prophylactic anticoagulant, yet some still develop thrombotic episodes. Therefore, better understanding of the mechanisms behind the thrombotic complications is needed to develop treatments that specifically target such pathways, which may aid in better disease management and improve the prognosis.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been affecting the health and economic, as well as social, life of the entire globe since the end of 2019. The virus causes COVID-19, with a wide range of symptoms among the infected individuals, from asymptomatic infection to mortality. This, along with a high infection rate, prompted efforts to investigate the potential mechanisms of the different clinical manifestations caused by SARS-CoV-2 among the infected populations. HYPOTHESIS: One of the possible mechanisms that has been reported is the ABO blood system polymorphism. Indeed, one of the major proposed mechanisms is the presence of naturally occurring anti-A antibodies in individuals of groups O and B, which could be partially protective against SARS-CoV-2 virions. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD: This article aimed to review the published data on the potential effect of the ABO blood group system on the susceptibility to COVID-19 and the disease progression and outcomes. RESULTS: The reviewed data suggest that individuals of blood group A are at a higher risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and may develop severe COVID-19 outcomes, whereas blood group O is considered protective against the infection, to some extent. However, some of the available studies seem to have been influenced by unaccounted confounders and biases. CONCLUSION: Therefore, further appropriately controlled studies are warranted to fully investigate the possible association between the ABO blood groups and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity.