Publication of the work on the long-term follow-up of patients with Evans syndrome

Pediatric-onset Evans syndrome (pES) is defined by both immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) before the age of 18 years. There have been no comprehensive long-term studies of this rare disease, which can be associated to various immunopathological manifestations (IMs). We report outcomes of the 151 patients with pES and more than 5 years of follow-up from the nationwide French prospective OBS’CEREVANCE cohort. Median age at final follow-up was 18.5 (6.8-50.0) years and the median follow-up period was 11.3 (5.1-38.0) years. At 10 years, ITP and AIHA were in sustained complete remission in 54.5% and 78.4% of patients, respectively. The frequency and number of clinical and biological IMs increased with age: at 20 years old, 74% had at least one clinical cIM. A wide range of cIMs occurred, mainly lymphoproliferation, dermatological, gastrointestinal/hepatic and pneumological IMs. The number of cIMs was associated with a subsequent increase in the number of second-line treatments received (other than steroids and immunoglobulins; hazard ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.60; p = 0.0002, Cox proportional hazards method). Survival at 15 years after diagnosis was 84%. Death occurred at a median age of 18 (1.7-31.5) years, and the most frequent cause was infection. The number of second-line treatments and severe/recurrent infections were independently associated with mortality. In conclusion, longterm outcomes of pES showed remission of cytopenias but frequent IMs linked to high secondline treatment burden. Mortality was associated to drugs and/or underlying immunodeficiencies, and adolescents-young adults are a high-risk subgroup.