Febrile complications in the first 100 days after bone marrow transplantation in children: a single center's experience

Routine Use of Biomarkers to Rationalize Antibiotic Use During Febrile Episodes in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Units

BACKGROUND

Children frequently develop fever after hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Although the etiology of many febrile episodes (FEs) is not an infection, patients often receive broad-spectrum antibiotics in response.

METHODS

To improve the judicious use of antibiotics in pediatric HSCT patients, we performed a prospective cohort study of children receiving an HSCT in Clínica Imbanaco (Cali, Colombia) between September 2016 and December 2019. We assessed all FEs occurring during 3 periods (infusion, neutropenic and engraftment). We measured procalcitonin and C-reactive protein (CRP) sequentially during each FE and compared levels among patients with fever due to significant infection (FSI) versus fever not attributable to infection (FNI) in each transplant period.

RESULTS

There were 166 FEs in 95 patients. FSI accounted for 12%, 42% and 42% of FE during infusion, neutropenic and engraftment periods, respectively. CRP had better discriminatory capacity for FSI versus FNI in the infusion period [area under the curve (AUC) 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.96) for a CRP level of 50 mg/L]. Neither biomarker performed well in the neutropenic period. During the engraftment period, a CRP of 65 mg/L had an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.65-0.96), while a procalcitonin level of 0.25 ng/mL had an AUC of 0.83 (95% CI, 0.63-1.0). In contrast to procalcitonin, the CRP's pattern of change throughout the first 3 days of fever in each transplant period was different in FSI compared with FNI.

CONCLUSION

Sequential measurement of biomarkers, especially CRP, may allow clinicians to more appropriately manage antibiotic use in pediatric HSCT units.

Incidence of infections after therapy completion in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or acute myeloid leukemia: a systematic review of the literature

Infections are a common complication of treatment for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Less is known about infections occurring after treatment. We performed a systematic review of the literature to assess the incidence of infections after therapy completion in children and young adults with ALL or AML. Twenty-eight studies, with 4138 patients, were included. Four studies reported infections in patients who did not undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Respiratory tract and urinary tract infections affected 9.9-72.5% and 2.9-19.8% of patients, respectively. Twelve studies reported infections in patients treated with HSCT. Late bacterial, viral and fungal infections affected 3.9-38.5%, 16.1-66.7%, and 0.2-41.7% of patients, respectively. Viral hepatitis affected 0.8-75.4% of patients from 12 studies. Our review suggests that infections are a frequent complication after treatment for leukemia in children, especially after HSCT and identifies several knowledge gaps in the current literature.

Bacteremia during neutropenic episodes in children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with ciprofloxacin and penicillin prophylaxis

Bacteremia during neutropenic episodes is a cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We have used oral ciprofloxacin and penicillin V, from the start of the conditioning regimen until engraftment, for the prophylaxis of bacterial infection. The objective of this study was to retrospectively analyze the prevalence of and risk factors for breakthrough bacteremia during neutropenic episodes in autologous and allogeneic HSCT patients. There were 215 patients enrolled, with a median age of 8.32 years (range 0.51-21.64 years) between 2002 and 2014. The common underlying diseases were thalassemia and acute leukemia. Bacteremia was documented in 33 patients (15.3 %), with 39 microorganisms isolated. Escherichia coli (28.2 %) and Streptococcus viridans (12.8 %) were the most commonly isolated Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. Multidrug resistant strains were found in 32 and 14.3 % of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. Risk factors for bacteremia were receiving anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) [odds ratio (OR) 2.44, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.06-5.65, P = 0.037] and umbilical cord blood as a stem cell graft (OR 6.60, 95 % CI 1.04-41.83, P = 0.045). In conclusion, the prevalence of bacteremia was 15.3 % and the use of ATG and cord blood were risk factors for bacteremia during neutropenic episodes.

Risk factor analysis of bloodstream infection in pediatric patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Bloodstream infection (BSI) is a recognized cause of morbidity and mortality in children after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, there are limited reports on BSI after HSCT in pediatric patients in multiple centers. This study was a retrospective cohort analysis of consecutive patients who underwent allogeneic and autologous HSCT at the Department of Paediatrics, Hokkaido University Hospital, between 1988 and 2009; the Department of Paediatrics, Sapporo Hokuyu Hospital, between 2007 and 2009; and the Department of Paediatrics, Asahikawa Medical University, between 1989 and 2009. A total of 277 patients underwent HSCT during the study period. In this multicenter analysis, cases of BSI after HSCT were recorded in the early posttransplant period (within the first 100 d), and BSI was observed in 24 of 277 HSCT patients. Multivariate analysis showed that nonmalignant disease was an independent factor associated with BSI after HSCT (hazard ratio 6.3 for aplastic anemia or Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome patients; confidence interval, 1.4-12.8; P = 0.012). We conclude that aplastic anemia and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome were the novel risk factors for BSI in pediatric patients after HSCT.

Infections in children undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in India

We studied the clinical profile of infections among 221 pediatric patients who underwent 230 allogeneic transplants between 1986 and June 2004. All patients developed febrile neutropenia. There were 283 documented infections, which included bacterial (36.9%), viral (45.7%), fungal (11.1%) and other infections (6.3%) including tuberculosis. Bacterial and fungal infections were more common in the first 30 days following BMT, while viral infections were more common >30 days after BMT. Bacterial pathogens were predominantly gram-negative organisms (72.7%), when compared with gram-positive organisms (27.3%). Common gram-negative organisms included NFGNB, Pseudomonas, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella while coagulase negative Staphylococci was the main gram-positive organism. Bacteremia (61.2%) was the main source positive cultures and was mainly because of gram-negative organisms (81%), predominantly NFGNB and Pseudomonas. Exactly 103/221(43.7%) transplants had 128 documented viral infections commonly because of Cytomegalovirus, Herpes group of viruses and transfusion related hepatitis. Thirty of 221 (13.5%) of transplants had 30 documented fungal infections with the majority being because of aspergillus (90%). Tuberculosis was seen in 1.7% of transplants while catheter infections were seen in 21 patients (9.1%). Infection related mortality was seen in 12% predominantly because of CMV or fungal infections. A sub group analysis (pre-1998 vs. post-1998) revealed higher incidences of gram-negative infections, bacteremia and bacterial infection related mortality in the pre-1998 era when compared with the recent times. The profile and mortality of infections in this series from India is not significantly different from reports from the West.

Pneumonitis associated with Ureaplasma urealyticum in children with cancer

We describe 3 pediatric patients with cancer who had clinical and radiographic evidence of pneumonitis and for whom cultures of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid specimens yielded Ureaplasma urealyticum. Two of the patients died; for the surviving patient, clinical improvement coincided temporally with administration of erythromycin. Immunocompromised patients with pneumonitis of unclear etiology should have respiratory secretions cultured for mycoplasmas and should receive empiric therapy that includes a macrolide antibiotic.

Fever and neutropenia in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients

The objective of this study was to identify patterns of fever and neutropenia in pediatric patients undergoing initial hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A retrospective review of 75 HSCTs over a 4-year period at a single institution was performed, of which 68% were allogeneic and 32% were autologous. Stem cell sources included bone marrow (29%), PBSC (52%) and umbilical cord blood (16%). Fever occurred in 74 (98%) of the episodes. Unexplained fever (FUO) occurred in 43%. Bacteremia without an anatomic focus occurred in 29%, while CVC associated infections occurred in 17%. In 49% of transplants at least one blood culture was positive. The incidence of bacteremia was higher in allogeneic HSCTs (58%) than in autologous transplants (29%). Gram-positive bacteria accounted for 71% of the isolates. Lower rates of bacteremia were observed in patients receiving oral fluoroquinolone prophylaxis. The median duration of fever was 12.5 days and time to engraftment 14 days. Regression analysis demonstrated that duration of fever was strongly associated with time to engraftment, and that time to engraftment was associated with source of cells and number of CD34+ cells/kg administered. Recipients of autologous PBSC had the shortest durations of fever and time to engraftment, while recipients of allogeneic umbilical cord blood had the longest. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2000) 25, 59-65.