Results of a multicenter retrospective study of a combined medical and surgical approach to pulmonary aspergillosis in pediatric neutropenic patients

Surgical treatment of invasive fungal infection in pediatric oncology

BACKGROUND

Invasive fungal disease (IFD) is typically aggressive and related with high mortality in children with a hematological malignancy. The association of medical and surgical treatment may ameliorate the outcome. The aim of this study was to analyze the surgical treatment of fungal infections in pediatric oncological populations.

METHODS

Retrospective study (2000-2022) of a single-center experience. We reviewed the medical record of all patients with hematologic malignancies and IFD, analyzing the outcome.

RESULTS

From the 70 pediatric cases of hematologic malignancies with the diagnosis IFD over 22 years, we included in the present study 44 cases who required surgical approaches for either diagnosis or treatment. Twenty-one patients were males and the mean age was 11 (range 1-23) years. The main indications for surgery were lack of improvement following medical treatment and/or progression of fungal infection (80%) and diagnosis confirmation (20%). Only five patients needed an emergency operation for rapid worsening of symptoms. The most common site of infection was the lung (80%) and the most frequently identified pathogen was Aspergillus (75%). The most common surgical procedures were lobectomy (performed in 17 patients) and atypical lung resection (10). Complications of surgery were mostly treated by medical approach. The mean time of resumption of oncological treatment was 40 (range 0-150) days.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgery is an important step in the multimodal treatment of invasive fungal infection with excellent resolution rate. Overall mortality depends on the underlying malignancy.

Surgical resection for persistent localized pulmonary fungal infection prior to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: Analysis of six cases

OBJECTIVE

Although invasive fungal disease (IFD) is an important complication in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), the clinical significance of surgery, including the role of surgical resection for persistent pulmonary fungal disease prior to allogeneic HSCT in the current era with a variety of available antifungal agents, is controversial. We investigated the role of surgical resection.

METHODS

We retrospectively investigated six patients who underwent surgical resection of suspected pulmonary fungal disease prior to allogeneic HSCT between April 2007 and June 2016 at our medical center.

RESULTS

We present six patients who underwent surgical resection of suspected pulmonary fungal disease prior to allogeneic HSCT. In our case series, three of four patients who were given a presurgical diagnosis of possible IFD were given a proven diagnosis after surgery, including two cases of invasive aspergillosis (IA) and one case of mucormycosis. All surgeries were performed by video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for lobectomy without major complications. Recurrence of IFD was not observed after allogeneic HSCT in any of the six patients.

CONCLUSION

Our experience indicated that surgical resection of persistent localized pulmonary lesions of IFD before allogeneic HSCT was helpful for obtaining a definitive diagnosis and might be useful for reducing recurrence after HSCT.

Diagnosis and management of Aspergillus diseases: executive summary of the 2017 ESCMID-ECMM-ERS guideline

The European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the European Confederation of Medical Mycology and the European Respiratory Society Joint Clinical Guidelines focus on diagnosis and management of aspergillosis. Of the numerous recommendations, a few are summarized here. Chest computed tomography as well as bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in patients with suspicion of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis (IA) are strongly recommended. For diagnosis, direct microscopy, preferably using optical brighteners, histopathology and culture are strongly recommended. Serum and BAL galactomannan measures are recommended as markers for the diagnosis of IA. PCR should be considered in conjunction with other diagnostic tests. Pathogen identification to species complex level is strongly recommended for all clinically relevant Aspergillus isolates; antifungal susceptibility testing should be performed in patients with invasive disease in regions with resistance found in contemporary surveillance programmes. Isavuconazole and voriconazole are the preferred agents for first-line treatment of pulmonary IA, whereas liposomal amphotericin B is moderately supported. Combinations of antifungals as primary treatment options are not recommended. Therapeutic drug monitoring is strongly recommended for patients receiving posaconazole suspension or any form of voriconazole for IA treatment, and in refractory disease, where a personalized approach considering reversal of predisposing factors, switching drug class and surgical intervention is also strongly recommended. Primary prophylaxis with posaconazole is strongly recommended in patients with acute myelogenous leukaemia or myelodysplastic syndrome receiving induction chemotherapy. Secondary prophylaxis is strongly recommended in high-risk patients. We strongly recommend treatment duration based on clinical improvement, degree of immunosuppression and response on imaging.

The role of surgery in the treatment of invasive fungal infection in paediatric haematology patients: a retrospective single-centre survey

Surgery may improve the control of fungal disease and patient survival. The aim of this study was to report a single-centre experience in using surgery for the treatment of paediatric invasive fungal infection (IFI). From 2001 to 2009, 18 paediatric onco-haematology patients underwent 24 surgical procedures as treatment of IFI. At surgery, severe thrombocytopenia and neutropenia were present in four and one episodes respectively. Complications were one pleural effusion, one pleural effusion and surgical wound infection, one pneumothorax with wound dehiscence and one wound dehiscence. None of them required repeat surgery. The median duration of hospitalisation for four complicated procedures was 11 days, range 3-16, and 7 days, range 2-13, for the 20 uncomplicated procedures. No surgery-related deaths occurred. Fourteen patients resumed chemotherapy after a median of 26 days, range 9-77, whereas nine patients underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after a median of 42 days, range 27-110. At 3 months from IFI, 17 patients were alive (94%) and one patient (6%) died from mycosis; the 3-month overall survival (OS) being 94.4%, CI 66.6-99.2. After a median follow-up of 7.1 years (CI 2.8-7.5), the OS was 54.5%, CI 29.2-74.2. Surgery is a feasible and valuable option in paediatric patients because it is associated with a low incidence of complications and an acceptable delay in resuming the chemotherapeutic plan.

Lung resection in hematologic patients with pulmonary invasive fungal disease

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary invasive fungal disease is a frequent complication in patients with hematologic malignancies. Surgical resection in addition to antifungal therapy is an option for selected cases but often feared because of immunosuppression.

METHODS

We analyzed the outcome of 71 patients undergoing lung resection for pulmonary invasive fungal disease. Most patients had leukemia, 44 underwent high-dose chemotherapy, and 18 underwent stem cell transplantation.

RESULTS

On the day of surgery, 44 patients were neutropenic, and 41 had a platelet count < 50 × 109/L. Forty-five nonanatomic (atypical) resections and 26 lobectomies were performed. Fungal infection was histologically proven in 53 patients. Reoperation was needed in four patients (bronchial stump dehiscence, persistent air leak, chylothorax, and seroma). Minor complications at the site of surgery occurred in 14 patients. In only two, there was an uncontrolled disseminated fungal infection. Overall, mortality at 30 days was 7% (five of 71). Long-term survival was mainly influenced by the underlying hematologic disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Lung resection is a therapeutic option for hematologic patients with pulmonary fungal infection. Despite immunosuppression, the perioperative morbidity and mortality is acceptable, and, therefore, the prognosis is not determined by the surgical intervention.

Surgical management of complications of multimodal therapy

Multimodality therapies that include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and various newer forms of targeted therapies have been commonly applied in childhood cancers. Such modalities are associated with complications that may adversely affect the outcome of cancer treatment. Acute complications that require surgical management form the focus of our discussion. These patients are often compromised by immunosuppression, thrombocytopenia, and malnutrition. The complications discussed include typhlitis, invasive aspergillosis (IA), pancreatitis, hemorrhagic cystitis, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, necrotizing skin and soft-tissue infections, and perianal infection. Familiarity with the spectrum of complications and their appropriate management approaches will minimize the patients' morbidity.

A prospective, multicentre survey on antifungal therapy in neutropenic paediatric haematology patients

Invasive fungal infections are a frequent complication after intensive chemotherapy. The aims of this prospective study were to describe the use of antifungal therapy and to report which strategy was routinely adopted to guide the introduction of antifungal therapy. A total of 321 febrile episodes in 160 paediatric patients affected by acute leukaemia or non-Hodgkin-lymphoma were investigated. Antifungal therapy was used in 100 of 321 febrile episodes (31%), and classified as empiric in 73 episodes, diagnostic-driven in 25 episodes and targeted in 2 episodes. Switching to a second-line antifungal therapy was needed in 28 of 100 episodes (28%) and was classified as empiric in 10 episodes (36%), diagnostic-driven in 17 episodes (61%) and targeted in 1 episode (4%). In 9 of 28 episodes (32%), switching to a third-line antifungal therapy was performed and was classified as empiric in 2 episodes (22%), diagnostic-driven in 6 episodes (67%) and targeted in 1 episode (11%). Invasive fungal infections was reported in 23 of 100 episodes: confirmed in 4 episodes, probable in 8 episodes, and possible in 11 episodes. Attributable mortality was 2.8%. Antifungal therapy was still used mostly empirically, whereas as fever persisted, its modification was guided by a diagnostic-driven approach.

Detection of Aspergillus DNA by a nested PCR assay is able to improve the diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis in paediatric patients

Fungal infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in severely immunocompromised patients and have been increasing in incidence in recent years. Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most common filamentous fungal infection and is, in adults as well as in children, difficult to diagnose. Several PCR assays to detect Aspergillus DNA have been established, but so far, studies on molecular tools for the diagnosis of IA in children are few. We evaluated the results of a nested PCR assay to detect Aspergillus DNA in clinical samples from paediatric and adolescent patients with suspected IA. Blood and non-blood samples from immunocompromised paediatric and adolescent patients with suspected invasive fungal infection were sent for processing Aspergillus PCR to our laboratory. PCR results from consecutive patients from three university children's hospitals investigated between November 2000 and January 2007 were evaluated. Fungal infections were classified according to the EORTC classification on the grounds of clinical findings, microbiology and radio-imaging results. Two hundred and ninety-one samples from 71 patients were investigated for the presence of Aspergillus DNA by our previously described nested PCR assay. Two, 3 and 34 patients had proven, probable and possible IA, respectively. Sensitivity (calculated from proven and probable patients, n=5) and specificity (calculated from patients without IA, n=32) rates of the PCR assay were 80 and 81 %, respectively. Our nested PCR assay was able to detect Aspergillus DNA in blood, cerebrospinal fluid and bronchoalveolar lavage samples from paediatric and adolescent patients with IA with high sensitivity and specificity rates.

Incidence of bacteremias and invasive mycoses in children undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a single center experience

We performed a retrospective single center study to define the epidemiology of bacteremias or invasive mycoses in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) from matched related donors (MRD) or alternative donors (AD). During 119 213 days of follow-up, 156 infections were observed: 130 bacteremias (27 in MRD-HSCT and 103 in AD-HSCT recipients) and 26 invasive mycoses (8 in MRD-HSCT and 18 in AD-HSCT recipients). Overall, the risk of bacteremia was fivefold that of invasive mycosis (P<0.001). AD-HSCT recipients had a higher percentage of infections (89 vs 27%; P<0.001), a higher rate/100 days of immunosuppression (infection rate (IR): 0.21 vs 0.06; P<0.001) and a higher proportion of repeated infections (44 vs 9%; P=0.001). In AD-HSCT, the relative risk of bacteremia was 2.87 in the pre-engraftment period, 5.84 in the early post-engraftment period and 6.46 in the late post-engraftment period (P<0.001) compared to MRD-HSCT. Only after 1 year did the epidemiology become similar. The epidemiology of invasive mycoses did not differ significantly between the two types of transplant.