Full Length Article
Analysis
Changes in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Practices in Response to COVID-19: A Survey from the Worldwide Network for Blood & Marrow Transplantation

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtct.2020.11.019Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on the field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

  • SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy in stem cell donors has been implemented but was not available in every center from the early beginning of the pandemic.

  • Changes in daily routine (e.g. freezing of unrelated stem cell products) became necessary.

  • Limited available data in COVID-19 infected donors and patients show no increase in severe events and adverse reactions due to concomitant G-CSF administration and no virus transmission of positive tested donors.

ABSTRACT

SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly worldwide, but the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) remains unknown. To understand this better, an 18-item online survey was disseminated by the Worldwide Network for Blood & Marrow Transplantation with questions exploring SARS-CoV-2 testing algorithms, mobilization, and cryopreservation strategies and COVID-19 infections in allogeneic related and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) donors. The aim of this survey was to assess the impact of the outbreak on policies relating to HPC mobilization, collection, and processing with respect to changes in daily routine. A total of 91 individual responses from distinct centers in 6 continents were available for analysis. In these centers, the majority (72%) of allogeneic related and autologous donors are routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2 before HPC collection, and 80% of centers implement cryopreservation of allogeneic HPC grafts before commencing conditioning regimens in patients. Five related and 14 autologous donors who tested positive for COVID-19 did not experience any unexpected adverse events or reactions during growth factor administration (eg, hyperinflammatory syndrome). These data are limited by the small number of survey respondents but nonetheless suggest that centers are following the recommendations of appropriate scientific organizations and provide some preliminary data to suggest areas of further study.

Key Words

COVID-19
G-CSF
Cryopreservation
Mobilization

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Financial disclosure: See Acknowledgments on page 270.e5.