Incidence & outcome of invasive fungal infections in patients with febrile neutropenia

Abstract Background Invasive fungal infection (IFI) is a major cause morbidity and mortality among patients with hematological malignancies who receive chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Thus, early diagnosis and treatment of these infections are of crucial importance. Certain factors have been identified as risk factors for IFI. Objectives Assessment of incidence and outcome of IFI in Egyptian patients with febrile neutropenia. Patients and Methods 50 febrile neutropenia episodes were studied. Patients were all subjected to history taking, clinical examination and further investigations including imaging studies, Galactomannan and Mannan antigen assays, and patients were followed up for observing the outcome. Results Our study found that hypertensive patients had significantly reduced LA function as measured by speckle tracking when compared to normotensive controls (P-value < 0.001). Also, many factors were associated with worse LA function in hypertensive patients as old age, high BMI, DM, LV diastolic dysfunction, high LV mass index, larger LA size, lower LA expansion index and higher systolic BP. Conclusion IFI incidence is affected by age, gender, primary diagnosis and severity of neutropenia, and IFI has a worse outcome compared to other causes of febrile neutropenia.