The Outcome of COVID-19 in Patients with Hematological Malignancy.

Introduction In this study, we aim to report the outcome of COVID-19 in patients with hematological malignancy in Turkey. Method The data of laboratory-confirmed 188,897 COVID-19 patients diagnosed between March 11, 2020 and June 22, 2020 included in the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health database were analyzed retrospectively. All of the COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy (n=740) were included in the study and an age, gender and comorbidity matched COVID-19 patients without cancer (n=740) at 1:1 ratio was used for comparison. Results Non Hodgkin lymphoma (30.1%), myelodysplastic syndrome (19.7%), myeloproliferative neoplasm (15.7%), were the most common hematological malignancies. The rates of severe and critical disease were significantly higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the patients without cancer (p=0.001). The rates of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the patients without cancer (p=0.023, p=0.001, respectively). The length of hospital stay and ICU stay were similar between groups (p=0.7, p=0.3; retrospectively). The rate of mechanical ventilation (MV) support was higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the control group (p=0.001). The case fatality rate (CFR) was 13.8% in patients with hematological malignancy, and it was 6.8% in the control group (p=0.001). Conclusion This study reveals that there is an increased risk of COVID-19 related serious events (ICU admission, MV support or death) in patients with hematological malignancy compared to COVID-19 patients without cancer and supports high vulnerability of patients with hematological malignancy in the current pandemic. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.