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Iron deficiency, even in the absence of anemia, can be debilitating, and exacerbate any underlying chronic disease, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Iron deficiency is frequently concomitant with chronic inflammatory disease; however, iron deficiency treatment is often overlooked, partially due to the heterogeneity among clinical practice guidelines. In the absence of consistent guidance across chronic heart failure, chronic kidney disease and inflammatory bowel disease, we provide practical recommendations for iron deficiency to treating physicians: definition, diagnosis, and disease-specific diagnostic algorithms. These recommendations should facilitate appropriate diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency to improve quality of life and clinical outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder with overlapping features of myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms, with an inherent risk for leukemic transformation (~15% over 3-5 years).

Coagulopathy causes morbidity and mortality in patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Yet, the mechanisms are unclear and biomarkers are limited. Early in the pandemic, we observed markedly elevated factor V activity in a patient with COVID-19, which led us to measure factor V, VIII, and X activity in a cohort of 102 consecutive inpatients with COVID-19. Contemporaneous SARS-CoV-2-negative controls (n = 17) and historical pre-pandemic controls (n = 260-478) were also analyzed. This cohort represents severe COVID-19 with high rates of ventilator use (92%), line clots (47%), deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE) (23%), and mortality (22%). Factor V activity was significantly elevated in COVID-19 (median 150 IU/dL, range 34-248 IU/dL) compared to contemporaneous controls (median 105 IU/dL, range 22-161 IU/dL) (P < 0.00001)-the strongest association with COVID-19 of any parameter studied, including factor VIII, fibrinogen, and D-dimer. Patients with COVID-19 and factor V activity >150 IU/dL exhibited significantly higher rates of DVT/PE (16/49, 33%) compared to those with factor V activity ≤150 IU/dL (7/53, 13%) (P = 0.03). Within this severe COVID-19 cohort, factor V activity associated with SARS-CoV-2 viral load in a sex-dependent manner. Subsequent decreases in factor V were linked to progression toward DIC and mortality. Together, these data reveal marked perturbations of factor V activity in severe COVID-19, provide links to SARS-CoV-2 disease biology and clinical outcomes, and nominate a candidate biomarker to investigate for guiding anticoagulation therapy in COVID-19. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 is a systemic infection with a significant impact on the hematopoietic system and hemostasis. Lymphopenia may be considered as a cardinal laboratory finding, with prognostic potential. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and peak platelet/lymphocyte ratio may also have prognostic value in determining severe cases. During the disease course, longitudinal evaluation of lymphocyte count dynamics and inflammatory indices, including LDH, CRP and IL-6 may help to identify cases with dismal prognosis and prompt intervention in order to improve outcomes. Biomarkers, such high serum procalcitonin and ferritin have also emerged as poor prognostic factors. Furthermore, blood hypercoagulability is common among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Elevated D-Dimer levels are consistently reported, whereas their gradual increase during disease course is particularly associated with disease worsening. Other coagulation abnormalities such as PT and aPTT prolongation, fibrin degradation products increase, with severe thrombocytopenia lead to life-threatening Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) which necessitates continuous vigilance and prompt intervention. COVID-19 infected patients whatever hospitalized or ambulatory are at high risk for VTE and an early and prolonged pharmacological thromboprophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin is highly recommended. Last but not least, the need for assuring blood donations during the pandemic is also highlighted.

DISEASE OVERVIEW: Immunoglobulin (Ig) light chain amyloidosis is a clonal, nonproliferative plasma cell disorder in which fragments of Ig light chain are deposited in tissues. Clinical features depend on organs involved but can include restrictive cardiomyopathy, nephrotic syndrome, hepatic failure, peripheral/autonomic neuropathy, and atypical multiple myeloma.

Enzyme replacement therapy for Gaucher disease (GD) has been available since 1991. This study compared the efficacy and safety of velaglucerase alfa with imiglucerase, the previous standard of care. A 9-month, global, randomized, double-blind, non-inferiority study compared velaglucerase alfa with imiglucerase (60 U/kg every other week) in treatment-naïve patients aged 3-73 years with anemia and either thrombocytopenia or organomegaly. The primary endpoint was the difference between groups in mean change from baseline to 9 months in hemoglobin concentration. 35 patients were randomized: 34 received study drug (intent-to-treat: 17 per arm), 20 were splenectomized. Baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. The per-protocol population included 15 patients per arm. The mean treatment difference for hemoglobin concentration from baseline to 9 months (velaglucerase alfa minus imiglucerase) was 0.14 and 0.16 g/dL in the intent-to-treat and per-protocol populations, respectively. The lower bound of the 97.5% one-sided confidence interval in both populations lay within the pre-defined non-inferiority margin of -1.0 g/dL, confirming that velaglucerase alfa is non-inferior to imiglucerase. There were no statistically significant differences in the secondary endpoints. Most adverse events were mild to moderate. No patient receiving velaglucerase alfa developed antibodies to either drug, whereas four patients (23.5%) receiving imiglucerase developed IgG antibodies to imiglucerase, which were cross-reactive with velaglucerase alfa in one patient. This study demonstrates the efficacy and safety of velaglucerase alfa compared with imiglucerase in adult and pediatric patients with GD clinically characterized as Type 1. Differences in immunogenicity were also observed. Am. J. Hematol. 88:179-184, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) and HCL-like disorders, including HCL variant (HCL-V) and splenic diffuse red pulp lymphoma (SDRPL), are a very heterogeneous group of mature lymphoid B-cell disorders, characterized by the identification of hairy cells, a specific genetic profile, a different clinical course and the need for appropriate treatment.

SUMMARY: Most previous studies on telomere length (TL) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are based on referral cohorts including a high proportion of aggressive cases. Here, the impact of TL was analyzed in a population-based cohort of newly diagnosed CLL (n=265) and in relation to other prognostic markers. Short telomeres were particularly associated with high-risk genetic markers, such as NOTCH1, SF3B1 or TP53 aberrations, and predicted a short time to treatment (TTT) and overall survival (OS) (both P<0.0001). TL was an independent prognostic factor and subdivided patients with otherwise good-prognostic features (e.g. mutated IGHV genes, favorable cytogenetics) into subgroups with different outcome. Furthermore, in follow-up samples (n=119) taken 5-8 years after diagnosis, TL correlated well with TL at diagnosis and remained unaffected by treatment. Altogether, these novel data indicate that short TL already at diagnosis is associated with poor outcome in CLL and that TL can be measured at later stages of the disease.

On March 12, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held a meeting of its partners in haemophilia treatment, community-based organizations, industry, and government to review data and discuss implementation issues relevant to planned United States (U.S.) national inhibitor surveillance. Issues discussed included the current status of inhibitor surveillance in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the U.S., the results of a U.S. inhibitor surveillance feasibility study, proposed national surveillance schemes, laboratory testing and reporting issues and potential opportunities for future inhibitor-related research. It was concluded that implementation of a national program of inhibitor surveillance using standardized testing through an established public health registry along with patient and care provider education and targeted research provide the best opportunity to inform efforts to develop and evaluate effective prevention strategies.

A phase II trial of R-MACLO-IVAM followed by thalidomide maintenance for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) demonstrated promising progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) rates. Thalidomide maintenance was associated with significant toxicity and was subsequently modified to rituximab maintenance. Herein we present updated results and follow-up. Two sequential phase II trials included chemotherapy-naïve patients with MCL up to 75 years old. Four cycles of R-MACLO-IVAM chemotherapy were delivered as previously described. Patients who achieved complete responses (CR) were eligible for thalidomide or rituximab maintenance therapy. Among 36 patients enrolled, the mantle cell lymphoma International Prognostic Index (MIPI) was low in 53%, intermediate in 36% and high in 11%. Thirty-five patients completed at least 2 cycles of chemotherapy; 34 (94%) achieved a CR. After a median follow-up of 74.4 months, the 5-year PFS was 51% (95% CI 33% - 68%) and the 5-year OS was 85% (95% CI 73% - 97%). Two deaths occurred during the chemotherapy phase due to disease progression and neutropenic sepsis respectively. One patient developed secondary acute myeloid leukemia after 7 years. R-MACLO-IVAM chemotherapy is effective for patients with newly diagnosed MCL. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.