COVID-19 has emerged as a pandemic with lung being the primarily afflicted organ. Deranged hemostasis has been observed in patients with COVID-19 with scales tipped towards a prothrombotic state. The pathogenesis differs from disseminated intravascular coagulation with a primary pulmonary localization. This is referred to as pulmonary intravascular coagulopathy with strong component of thrombo-inflammation. This is reflected in the lab tests with an increase in D-dimer which correlates with severity and outcomes of disease. Common coagulation tests such as prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time are only mildly prolonged while most patients have normal to increased fibrinogen and marginal thrombocytopenia. Overall, the patients have an increase in venous and arterial thrombotic events especially in ICU patients. Routine thromboprophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin is recommended in all hospitalized patients to reduce the incidence of thrombosis. Bleeding is uncommon and treated with blood products transfusion. This review shall discuss the hemostatic abnormalities in COVID-19 patients and their impact on prognosis. In addition, strategy of thromboprophylaxis and various academic society guidelines are discussed in detail.
TB should be suspected in patients with unexplained fever post alloSCT. Active GVHD and ongoing immunosuppression/steroids are possible risk factors. Early diagnosis and treatment can salvage most patients. Hepatotoxicity following ATT is a potential concern.
In COVID 19 pandemic, delivery and access of health care services have become challenging. Telemedicine services can be considered for management of patients with hematological diseases. This study included all patients who enrolled for telemedicine facility for hematology from May 15 to July 15, 2020. Patient's demographic and disease related parameters were recorded during the teleconsultation call. Overall satisfaction of attending doctor and patients were also recorded. A total of 1187 teleconsultation appointments were taken, of which 944 (79.6%) were successfully attended. Median age of patients was 38 years (range-0.5-78 years), with 38% females. 55% of successful calls were from patients suffering a malignant hematological disorder. 24% had an active complaint pertaining to their disease or treatment. Of these, 162 (17%) were asked for a physical consultation. A significant association was found between the requirement of physical consultation and diagnosis (p \ 0.001),
Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is characterized by pancytopenia and usually associated with massive splenomegaly, however the same may not be true in the clinical settings. Here we report four cases of HCL and all of them were without the classical clinical feature of splenomegaly. This is an observational study conducted between January 2013 to March 2014 where we could diagnose ten cases of HCL in Department of Hematology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Of these, four cases attracted attention because of absence of classical clinical features of HCL. Of the four cases, three presented with weakness/fatigability while fourth patient presented with recurrent respiratory tract infection. Surprising finding in these cases was absence of splenomegaly, both clinically and on imaging which demerit the suspicion of HCL clinically. All four had bi/pancytopenia and bone marrow examination coupled with immunophenotypic analysis confirmed the diagnosis of HCL. Three patients received chemotherapy with cladribine and achieved complete hematological remission. One patient did not receive chemotherapy due to poor general condition and was subsequently lost to follow up. To conclude, HCL can and do present without splenomegaly and this should not restrain one from suspecting HCL based on histomorphology which needs to be further confirmed by ancillary techniques. This finding in our series could be because these cases were picked early in their natural course of the disease. A high index of suspicion is essential for diagnosing and appropriately managing such cases.
Objectives
Pediatric myelofibrosis is a rare entity with the largest reported series of 19 cases. We describe here the clinicopathological spectrum and outcomes of 15 cases of pediatric myelofibrosis.
Methods
Case files of myelofibrosis of patients less than 18 years were retrieved from January 2016 to January 2019, and patients with idiopathic myelofibrosis after exhaustive work‐up were studied. Their clinicopathological profiles were studied and then followed up for resolution and malignant transformation.
Results
Of the 15 cases of idiopathic myelofibrosis, transfusion‐dependent anemia (14/15) was most common presentation. Only one patient showed leukoerythroblastosis with dacryocytes. Myeloid hyperplasia was seen in 13 of 15 patients and megakaryocytic hyperplasia in 10 patients. Dysmegakaryopoiesis was seen in 8 of 15 patients, and only three had small loose megakaryocytic clustering. None showed hyperchromatic megakaryocytes, intrasinusoidal hematopoiesis, or osteosclerosis. One patient with trisomy 8 tested positive for JAK2V617F. Bone marrow biopsy was hypercellular in 13, and 8 had world health organization (WHO) MF‐3 fibrosis. None of the patients developed malignancy, one had spontaneous resolution, and one patient required allogenic stem cell transplant.
Conclusions
Pediatric myelofibrosis is a distinct entity from primary myelofibrosis in adults and merits mention in the WHO manual as a distinct entity.
BackgroundAcute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a frequent complication of COVID-19 and is associated with a component of thrombo-inflammation and cytokine storm. COVID-19 also affects the hemostatic system causing multiple coagulation abnormalities that is a cause of concern and needs to be addressed.
Diagnosis of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is based on clinical suspicion and normal peripheral smear except for thrombocytopenia. Bone marrow examination is carried out to rule out leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome or aplastic anemia. However, in most cases, clinical diagnosis is not altered after the bone marrow reports. Hence, this present study was carried out to evaluate the justification for bone marrow examination in the setting of isolated thrombocytopenia. All patients presenting to the hematology OPD with isolated thrombocytopenia and suspected diagnosis of ITP, between October 2011 and April 2013, were included in the study. Data was collected from bone marrow reports and outpatient records. A total of 353 cases were found. 319 cases had features of typical ITP and the rest had some form of organomegaly and/or lymphadenopathy. Bone marrow examination in all cases revealed normal hematopoietic elements and prominence of megakaryocytes including juvenile forms with no novel diagnosis in any patient. Routine use of bone marrow examination in the diagnostic workup of isolated thrombocytopenia is not required in our center even if steroids are planned as a first line therapy. However, a detailed history, thorough examination with complete hemogram and peripheral smear examination are essential.
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