Macrophage Activation in COVID-19 Patients in Intensive Care Unit

We report six cases of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), for whom bone marrow aspirate revealed hemophagocytosis. We compared their clinical presentation and laboratory findings to those that can be encountered during a hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. These observations might evoke a macrophage activation mechanism different from the one encountered in the hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). J Med Cases. 2020;11(7):211-214 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc3520