Delayed, transient and self-resolving neutropenia following COVID-19 pneumonia

A novel coronaravirus, identified as SARS-CoV-2, spread throughout the world in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many discoveries and clinical manifestations. A young patient is presented with new, self-resolving neutropenia presenting weeks after a prolonged hospital stay for COVID-19 pneumonia. Workup included analysis for underlying infection, nutritional abnormalities, malignancy, medication and toxin exposure, all of which were negative. From 2020 to the present, few reports have described neutropenia associated with a recent COVID-19 infection. In particular, no reports have described a delayed presentation of neutropenia. The authors would like to propose that the significant inflammatory response associated with COVID-19 is likely what led to this patient's postviral neutropenia. Furthermore, in young healthy patients, bone marrow biopsy may be deferred and a watchful-waiting approach may be taken to assess for neutropenia resolution.

Automated summary

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to many new discoveries and clinical manifestations. Few reports have described neutropenia associated with a recent COVID-19 infection, proposing that the significant inflammatory response may lead to postviral neutropenia in patients. In young healthy patients, a watchful-waiting approach may be taken to assess for neutropenia resolution before considering a bone marrow biopsy.