Table 3 Key points of literature review of COVID-19 epidemiology and clinical presentation in haematological malignancy patients.

From: Recommendations for the management of COVID-19 in patients with haematological malignancies or haematopoietic cell transplantation, from the 2021 European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia (ECIL 9)

• The severity and outcome of COVID-19 is worse in HM patients compared to the general population, with a significantly higher mortality rate.

• Low-dose chest CT is indicated in HM patients with symptoms consistent with LRTD.

• Among HM patients, the prevalence of COVID-19 is high in patients with lymphoproliferative diseases such as NHL, CLL and MM.

• High mortality rate is observed in COVID-19 patients affected by acute leukaemia and high risk-myelodysplastic syndromes, and in patients after HSCT and CAR-T therapy.

• In all subset of HM patients, older age, cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities, and active or not controlled (i.e. not in remission) malignancy represents the main risk factors for mortality.

• Children with HM have a lower prevalence of COVID-19 and associated mortality than adults with HM.

• The type of clinical symptoms and signs of COVID-19 and long-COVID in HM patients is similar to that reported for the overall population

  1. BA bronchoalveolar lavage, CAR-T chimeric-antigen receptor-T cells, COVID-19 coronavirus 2019 disease, CLL chronic lymphocitic leukaemia, CT computed tomography, HM haematological malignancy, HSCT hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, LRTD lower respiratory tract disease, NHL non-Hodgkin lymphoma, MM multiple myeloma, SARS-CoV-2 severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2.
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