Sepsis is a life-threatening condition triggered by a dysregulated immune response to bloodstream infection. Patients with solid and hematologic malignancies are at increased risk of severe infections and the onset of sepsis. Due to the limitations of blood cultures, particularly in culture-negative sepsis, multiple serological biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), white blood cells (WBC), lymphocytes (LYM), neutrophils (NEU), and monocytes (MON), are frequently used to diagnose infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: This prospective study investigated the impact of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) on anti-COVID-19 antibody levels in previously vaccinated multiple myeloma (MM) patients with confirmed antibody response (AR). : All patients underwent at least a two-dose regimen mRNA vaccination and later received a high-dose melphalan conditioning regimen and ASCT. : Fourteen MM patients with confirmed AR underwent a total of nineteen ASCT reinfusions; their median age was 55 (34-67).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHaematological patients represent a vulnerable population to opportunistic infections, mainly due to the disease itself and chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. The level of immune suppression strongly increases the importance of timely antibiotic treatment in order to prevent sepsis-related mortality. During the initial fever episode, serum biomarkers are usually used to estimate the probability of blood stream infection prior to the results of microbial diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGranulocyte-colony stimulating factors (G-CSFs) are the cornerstone of peripheral blood stem cell mobilization and apheresis. However, splenic rupture following G-CSF treatment represents a serious and potentially fatal adverse event. Here, we report the case of a patient in their late 50s with severe pancytopenia post-autologous stem cell transplantation reinfusion suffering from splenic rupture after treatment with lenograstim.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a medical emergency that requires urgent evaluation, timely administration of empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics and careful monitoring in order to optimize the patient's outcome, especially in the setting of both allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (ASCT).
Methods: In this real-life retrospective study, a total of 49 consecutive episodes of FN were evaluated in 40 adult patients affected by either multiple myeloma (thirty-eight) or lymphoma (eleven), following ASCT, with nine patients having fever in both of the tandem transplantations.
Results: Febrile neutropenia occurred a median of 7 days from ASCT.