Charting a path forward: Promising outcomes of convalescent plasma therapy in the care of severely B-cell depleted patients with persistent COVID-19

This study evaluated outcomes of B-cell depleted patients with persistent COVID-19 treated with CCP.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This analysis included all consecutive severely B-cell depleted patients with persistent COVID-19, receiving CCP at Rambam between 01.2022-02.2023. Persistent COVID-19 was defined as the presence of symptoms for ≥14 days in patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody test results.RESULTS: Twenty patients met inclusion criteria, 17 of whom had hematological malignancies, two suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and one had both. Twelve patients received anti-CD-20 treatment, one - CAR-T cells and three underwent stem cell transplantation. The median duration of COVID-19 symptoms was 27.5 days (range 14-97); 12 patients had mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and 8 had severe infection. Sixteen patients required hospitalization. The majority of patients received other COVID-19 therapies before CCP. Within a median of two days (range 1-16) post-infusion, 19/20 patients clinically improved. No CCP-associated adverse events were documented. COVID-19 symptoms recurred in 3 of the improved patients. Two patients died from COVID-19 on days 1 and 90 following the first CCP infusion.DISCUSSION: In severely B-cell depleted patients with persistent COVID-19, CCP is safe and associated with rapid clinical improvement. This subset of immunocompromised patients could particularly benefit from CCP administration.PMID:38327238 | DOI:10.1111/trf.17737
Source: Transfusion - Category: Hematology Authors: Source Type: research