Faculty Collaboration Database

Changes in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Practices in Response to COVID-19: A Survey from the Worldwide Network for Blood & Marrow Transplantation. Transplant Cell Ther 2021 Mar;27(3):270.e1-270.e6

Date

03/31/2021

Pubmed ID

33781537

Pubmed Central ID

PMC7834678

DOI

10.1016/j.jtct.2020.11.019

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85101114408 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   15 Citations

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.

Author List

Worel N, Shaw BE, Aljurf M, Koh M, Seber A, Weisdorf D, Schwartz J, Galeano S, Kodera Y, Eldridge PW, Hashmi S, Atsuta Y, Szer J, Saber W, Niederwieser D, Greinix HT, Worldwide Network for Blood & Marrow Transplantation

Authors

Wael Saber MD, MS Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Bronwen E. Shaw MBChB, PhD Center Director, Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Algorithms
Allografts
Bone Marrow Transplantation
Cryopreservation
Donor Selection
Global Health
Health Care Surveys
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Mobilization
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Pandemics
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
Tissue Preservation
Transplantation, Autologous
Unrelated Donors