Editorial: The effect of COVID-19 on hematological disease diagnosis, management and outcomes

Abstract

Lee, Chieng, Lau et al. studied the effects of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on the clinical presentation, radiological findings, and outcomes of the infection in patients with hemoglobinopathies. They found that the possibility of severe COVID-19 infection in patients with hemoglobinopathies was higher than in the general population, with a percentage of 35.8% with severe infection compared to (11.1–19.1%) in the general population. The mortality rate was also higher than in the general public, with 6.9% mortality in patients with hemoglobinopathies compared to (2.2–5%) in the population. They also reported that hemoglobinopathy patients had higher mortality rates than patients with comorbid conditions such as chronic kidney diseases, but lower mortality rates than patients with HIV and malignancies. However, it was found that other comorbid conditions such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases within these patients significantly increased mortality. It has been previously shown in several studies that comorbidities like hypertension could lead to a more aggressive course of COVID-19 infection and possible ICU admission (1). In addition, healthcare disparity and socioeconomic status in patients may have also led to worsened outcomes. Nevertheless, the review showed that patients with hemoglobinopathies suffer the same common COVID-19 symptoms occurring in the population. In addition, patients with hemoglobinopathies suffered from increased rates of vaso-occlusive crises secondary to hypoxia. This review and its reported numbers, however, included studies published during the earlier phases of the COVID-19 pandemic that included small sample sizes. Long-term effects were also not recorded. Finally, the radiological findings were descriptive and did not include definitive diagnoses and causes of these findings, which could be a limitation to this study as some radiological features can be found in both COVID-19 and some hemoglobinopathies like sickle cell disease (SCD). The review provides valuable insights into the management of COVID-19 in patients with hemoglobinopathies and underscores the need for further research in this (Lee, Chieng, Lau et al.).