Summary

In addition to the plethora of abstracts in the larger haematological subdomains discussed in this special issue of the BJH, ASH 2019 also featured many interesting presentations that do not fall within one of these categories. In this article we would like to address some of this ‘miscellaneous news’ from ASH 2019. In the field of venous thromboembolism (VTE), bodyweight-adjusted rivaroxaban could provide a new alternative treatment option for paediatric patients. Also with respect to VTE, the Ottawa score failed to demonstrate its predictive value for VTE recurrence in cancer patients. In addition, interesting new data were presented on the prevention of graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after an allogeneic transplantation. At this year’s meeting, there was also a session dedicated to disorders in the number or function of platelets in which much attention went to novel drug targets and novel drug combinations for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenia. Finally, some interesting presentations on sickle cell disease, myelofibrosis-associated anaemia and cold agglutinin disease (CAD) will be discussed in this overview.

(BELG J HEMATOL 2020;11(1):35–40)