Successful Outcomes of Severe COVID-19 in Patient with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Diagnostic Challenges in Immunocompromised Hosts

Alexandre E Malek; Cristina Gutierrez; Victor E Mulanovich; Joshua Botdorf; Roy F Chemaly; Shivan Shah; Brandi M McCall; Judd T Melancon; Kelly K McConn; Jovan Borjan; Issam I Raad; Jan A Burger; Guillermo Garcia-Manero; Javier A Adachi

doi:10.4084/MJHID.2020.044

Successful Outcomes of Severe COVID-19 in Patient with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Diagnostic Challenges in Immunocompromised Hosts

Mediterr J Hematol Infect Dis. 2020 Jul 1;12(1):e2020044. doi: 10.4084/MJHID.2020.044. eCollection 2020.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA.
² Department of Critical Care Department; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA.
³ Division of Pharmacy; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA.
⁴ Department of Leukemia; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030, USA.

Abstract

The emergence and spread of 2019 novel coronavirus have led to an unprecedented public health crisis around the globe, threatening the lives of millions of people. We report a severe case of COVID-19 in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and describe primarily the clinical presentation and the challenges encountered in the COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and specimens sampling pitfalls. This case highlights the importance of a comprehensive diagnostic approach of pneumonia in immunocompromised hosts, including timely and safe bronchoscopy, because of the broad differential diagnosis, more challenging with the current outbreak of COVID-19.

Keywords: ARDS; COVID-19; Cancer patients; Chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Publication types

Case Reports