Comparison of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein as early diagnostic marker for the identification of transplant-related adverse events after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients

Febrile illness in high-risk children: a prospective, international observational study

To assess and describe the aetiology and management of febrile illness in children with primary or acquired immunodeficiency at high risk of serious bacterial infection, as seen in emergency departments in tertiary hospitals. Prospective data on demographics, presenting features, investigations, microbiology, management, and outcome of patients within the 'Biomarker Validation in HR patients' database in PERFORM, were analysed. Immunocompromised children (< 18 years old) presented to fifteen European hospitals in nine countries, and one Gambian hospital, with fever or suspected infection and clinical indication for blood investigations. Febrile episodes were assigned clinical phenotypes using the validated PERFORM algorithm. Logistic regression was used to assess the effect size of predictive features of proven/presumed bacterial or viral infection. A total of 599 episodes in 482 children were analysed. Seventy-eight episodes (13.0%) were definite bacterial, 67 episodes probable bacterial (11.2%), and 29 bacterial syndrome (4.8%). Fifty-five were definite viral (9.2%), 49 probable viral (8.2%), and 23 viral syndrome (3.8%). One hundred ninety were unknown bacterial or viral infections (31.7%), and 108 had inflammatory or other non-infectious causes of fever (18.1%). Predictive features of proven/presumed bacterial infection were ill appearance (OR 3.1 (95% CI 2.1-4.6)) and HIV (OR 10.4 (95% CI 2.0-54.4)). Ill appearance reduced the odds of having a proven/presumed viral infection (OR 0.5 (95% CI 0.3-0.9)). A total of 82.1% had new empirical antibiotics started on admission (N = 492); 94.3% proven/presumed bacterial (N = 164), 66.1% proven/presumed viral (N = 84), and 93.2% unknown bacterial or viral infections (N = 177). Mortality was 1.9% (N = 11) and 87.1% made full recovery (N = 522).   Conclusion: The aetiology of febrile illness in immunocompromised children is diverse. In one-third of cases, no cause for the fever will be identified. Justification for standard intravenous antibiotic treatment for every febrile immunocompromised child is debatable, yet effective. Better clinical decision-making tools and new biomarkers are needed for this population. What is Known: • Immunosuppressed children are at high risk for morbidity and mortality of serious bacterial and viral infection, but often present with fever as only clinical symptom. • Current diagnostic measures in this group are not specific to rule out bacterial infection, and positivity rates of microbiological cultures are low. What is New: • Febrile illness and infectious complications remain a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in HR children, yet management is effective. • The aetiology of febrile illness in immunocompromised children is diverse, and development of pathways for early discharge or cessation of intravenous antibiotics is debatable, and requires better clinical decision-making tools and biomarkers.

Biomarkers for Diagnosing Febrile Illness in Immunocompromised Children: A Systematic Review of the Literature

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to assess the performance of biomarkers used for the prediction of bacterial, viral, and fungal infection in immunocompromised children upon presentation with fever.

METHODS

We performed a literature search using PubMed and MEDLINE and In-Process & Other Non-indexed Citations databases. Cohort and case-control studies assessing biomarkers for the prediction of bacterial, viral, or fungal infection in immunocompromised children vs. conventional microbiological investigations were eligible. Studies including adult patients were eligible if pediatric data were separately assessable. Data on definitions used for infections, fever, and neutropenia and predictive values were collected. Risk of bias was assessed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool.

RESULTS

Fifty-two studies involving 13,939 febrile episodes in 7,059 children were included. In total, 92.2% were in cancer patients (n = 48), and 15.7% also included hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients (n = 8). Forty-three biomarkers were investigated, of which 6 (CRP, PCT, IL-8, IL-6, IL-10, and TNFα) were significantly associated with bacterial infection at admission, studied in multiple studies, and provided predictive data. Literature on the prediction of viral and fungal infection was too limited. Eight studies compared C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT), with PCT demonstrating superiority in 5. IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 were compared with CRP in six, four, and one study, respectively, with mixed results on diagnostic superiority. No clear superior biomarker comparing PCT vs. IL-6, IL-8, or IL-10 was identified.

DISCUSSION

There is great heterogeneity in the biomarkers studied and cutoff values and definitions used, thus complicating the analysis. Literature for immunocompromised children with non-malignant disease and for non-bacterial infection is sparse. Literature on novel diagnostics was not available. We illustrated the challenges of diagnosing fever adequately in this study population and the need for improved biomarkers and clinical decision-making tools.

Multivariate analysis of factors for failed continuous bladder irrigation in hemorrhagic cystitis patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Background

Continuous bladder irrigation (CBI) and proper adjustment of saline irrigation speed are important to avoid CBI failure in hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Nevertheless, too fast irrigation speed could take away the patient's much heat, contribute to blood coagulopathy, and increase the nursing workload. Evaluation of risk for CBI failure remains an unmet clinical need.

Methods

The general information, clinical characteristics, and consultation records of HC patients in 1380 patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in our center from 2017 to 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to calculate the cutoff point of the continuous variable, and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors affecting CBI failure in HC patients.

Results

The incidence of HC after HSCT was 23%. A total of 227 patients with HC above grade 2 were included. Univariate analysis showed that CRP, age, platelet counts, onset time after transplantation, albumin, and hemoglobin were associated with CBI failure in the short-term (P < 0.05). ROC curve and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CRP > 8.89 ng/ml (RR = 7.828, 95% CI 2.885–21.244), age < 14.5 years (RR = 9.940, 95% CI 3.219–30.697), and onset time of HC > 37d after transplantation (RR = 7.021, 95% CI 2.204–22.364), were independent risk factors for failure of CBI (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

The study identified CRP > 8.89 ng/ml, age < 14.5 years, and onset time of HC after HSCT > 37d are independent factors for failure of CBI, which could be combined to allow stratification of HC after HSCT patients into low-, intermediate- and high-risk subgroups of CBI failure.