W read with great interest the results of the randomized placebo-controlled trial from Laoprasopwattana and coworkers regarding the effectiveness of ciproflaxacin prophylaxis for preventing fever in neutropenic children with acute leukemia or lymphoma. In this study, there was a 23% reduction of febrile episodes in patients receiving ciprofloxacin, with a consequent decrease in the number of pa...

BACKGROUND Fever occurring in a neutropenic patient remains a common life-threatening complication of cancer chemotherapy. The common practice is to admit the patient to hospital and treat empirically with intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics. Oral therapy could be an alternative approach for selected patients. OBJECTIVES To compare the efficacy of oral antibiotics versus intravenous (IV) a...

BACKGROUND Amphotericin B dexoycholate is currently the standard empirical antifungal therapy for neutropenic patients with hematologic malignancies and who also have persistent fever that does not respond to antibacterial therapy. The antifungal triazoles offer a potentially safer and effective treatment alternative to Amphotericin B dexoycholate. METHODS We assessed the efficacy and safety ...

Neopterin, a pteridine group compound that is secreted from macrophages is shown to be increased in adult leukemia; however there are few studies in childhood leukemia. This study aimed to investigate neopterin levels during childhood leukemia treatment and neutropenic fever episodes for the possibility of using as a marker for disease activity and differentiation of infections. A total of 44 c...

BACKGROUND Prolonged chemotherapy-induced neutropenia is a major risk factor for the development of severe bacterial and fungal infections. Infectious manifestations may progress despite adequate anti-infectious treatment and lead to a very high short-term mortality. Granulocyte transfusion (GT) therapy is often considered. However, its efficacy is not well documented. METHODS We retrospectiv...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of caspofungin versus liposomal amphotericin B as empiric antifungal treatment in patients with neutropenic fever in Italy. METHODS The cost-effectiveness of caspofungin versus liposomal amphotericin B was evaluated using a decision-tree model. Patients were stratified by presence or absence of baseline infection. Model outcomes included success in...

Fever is the principle sign of infection in neutropenic patient and frequently may be the only evidence of infection. The pattern of fever in neutropenia is non-specific and not pathognomonic of any type of infections or non-infectious process and can be suppressed by the antipyretic effects of drugs such as corticosteroids. Neutropenia, resulting from cytotoxic chemotherapy is the most common ...