A Retrospective Review of Secondary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and Dengue-associated HLH from a Teaching Hospital in Singapore.

Abstract

Real-world data on the outcome of Asian patients with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), especially on dengue-associated HLH, are limited to small case series. This is a retrospective records review of adult patients with secondary HLH between 2015 and 2020. Thirty-two adult patients were followed up for a median of 6.6 months (range 0.1 – 75 months). 15 had underlying lymphomas, and 12 had viral infections. Hemophagocytosis was seen in 28 of 29 patients with a bone marrow biopsy. 100% and 76.5% of patients with and without an underlying malignancy required HLH-directed therapy and blood product transfusion. 12 of 15 patients with lymphomas were treated with additional chemotherapy. Patients with malignancy-associated HLH had poorer survival than non-malignancy-associated HLH (median overall survival (OS) 1.5 months versus not reached, p-value 0.003). The 1-year survival rates of patients with malignancy-associated HLH, HLH with unknown etiologies, and infection-associated HLH were 0.133 (95% CI: 0.036 – 0.484), 0.400 (95% CI: 0.137 – 1.000) and 0.833 (95% CI: 0.647 – 1.000), respectively. Malignancy significantly increased the risk of death compared to infection-associated HLH (HR 9.37, p-value 0.003). Eight patients were diagnosed with dengue-associated HLH with a median HSCORE of 240 (98-99% probability of HLH). Their mean ferritin was 34,740 ng/mL. Three patients required blood product transfusion, 5 required corticosteroids and/or etoposide, with a median duration of treatment of 31 days. Their overall survival rate was 87.5%. Our study highlights the stark contrast in the survival of secondary HLH patients with and without an underlying malignancy. We also present one of the world’s most extensive case series of dengue-associated HLH.