TABLE 2.
Characteristics of patients and febrile episodes
| Febrile neutropenic patient characteristic (n = 86) | Valuea |
|---|---|
| Male/female | 53 (62)/33 (38) |
| Median age in yr (range) | 54 (17-71) |
| Hematological malignancies | |
| Acute myeloid leukemia/acute | |
| lymphoblastic leukemia | 37 (43)/9 (10) |
| Lymphoma | 12 (14) |
| Multiple myeloma | 22 (26) |
| Other | 6 (7) |
| Chemotherapy | |
| Induction/consolidation for acute leukemia | 45 (52) |
| Autologous HSCTb | 37 (43) |
| Other | 4 (5) |
| Median no. of days of neutropenia (range) | 11 (1-140) |
| Febrile episodes (n = 141) | |
| First febrile episodes | 85 (60) |
| Recurrent febrile episodes | 56 (40) |
| Ongoing antimicrobial therapy at | |
| onset of fever | 51 (36) |
| Microbiologically documented infections | |
| (MDI) | 44 (31) |
| Bacteremic | 35 (25) |
| Single Gram-positive bacterial species | 13 (37) |
| Single Gram-negative bacterial species | 15 (43) |
| Polymicrobial | 7 (20) |
| Nonbacteremicc | 9 (6) |
| Clinically documented infection (CDI) | 49 (35) |
| Upper/lower gastrointestinal tract | 36 (73) |
| Upper/lower airways | 6 (12) |
| Catheter/skin/soft tissues | 7 (14) |
| Fever of unexplained origin (FUO) | 48 (34) |
| Episodes with persistent fever for ≥3 days | 52 (36) |
| Invasive fungal infections | |
| (EORTC-MSG criteria) | 7 (5) |
| Probable | 2 |
| Possible | 5 |
a
Values represent number (percent) except where otherwise indicated.
b
HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
c
Four cases of enterocolitis (Clostridium difficile infection), one of pneumonia (Pneumocystis jiroveci), and four of urinary tract infections (two Escherichia coli, one Enterobacter cloacae, and one Klebsiella pneumoniae). Clostridium difficile and Pneumocystis jiroveci are not in the SF analytical spectrum. In one of the four urinary tract infections, SF detected the same microorganism (K. pneumoniae/K. oxytoca) in blood.