Analysis of factors related to the occurrence of chronic disseminated candidiasis in patients with acute leukemia in a non-bone marrow transplant setting: a follow-up study.

BACKGROUND

Chronic disseminated candidiasis (CDC) is a serious complication of treatment in patients with acute leukemia. Although some general risk factors are known to predispose to systemic fungal infections, few studies have addressed the relevance of certain clinical and laboratory features in patients with CDC.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

To define a subset of patients at high risk for CDC, the authors evaluated the demographics and clinical and laboratory characteristics of 423 patients with acute leukemia. Patients who had bone marrow transplant before the diagnosis of CDC were excluded from the analysis. The diagnosis of CDC was based on blood cultures, liver biopsy, and imaging studies. The authors conducted 2 separate regression analyses on 3 subsets of patients: patients without documented candidiasis (n = 374), patients with CDC (n = 23), and patients with candidemia (n = 26).

RESULTS

According to multivariate analysis, younger age (P = 0.009; odds ratio [OR], 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.72-2.99), duration of neutropenia of 15 days or longer (P = 0.0003; OR, 11.7; 95% CI, 3.04-45.1), and use of prophylactic quinolone antibiotics (P = 0.039; OR, 3.85; 95% CI, 1.11-13.4) emerged as independent factors related to the development of CDC in patients with acute leukemia. The presence of severe mucositis, colonization with Candida, and administration of high-dose ara-C were statistically significant parameters in univariate analysis only (P = 0.0001, P = 0.003, and P = 0.058, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of the results of this investigation, it is possible to define a subset of patients with acute leukemia at very high risk for CDC. Because of the morbidity and mortality of this infection, a targeted prophylactic approach may be more effective and less costly than the random administration of antifungal agents.