Prognosis of child recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation requiring intensive care.

OBJECTIVE

To determine prognostic factors in child recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from blood or bone marrow (BMT) requiring critical care.

DESIGN

Retrospective study of a cohort of patients.

SETTING

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in a university tertiary care center.

PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS

Child recipients of BMT requiring PICU admission.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Of the 151 children receiving transplants in our institution, 44 (29.1%) had 49 admissions to the PICU. Mechanical ventilation (MV) was required in 34 patients (69.4% of all admissions). Overall mortality was 31/44 (70.4%). Mortality in patients requiring MV and not requiring MV was 26/34 (76.5%) and 5/10 (50%), respectively. The following variables were significantly associated with mortality in the univariate analysis: male gender (P=0.02), older age (P=0.03), acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) grades III or IV (P=0.01), severe hemorrhagic cystitis (P=0.01), the diagnosis of lung injury (P=0.04), the need for MV (P=0.03) or for renal replacement therapy (P=0.02), the presence of respiratory (P=0.003), cardiovascular (P=0.009) or gastrointestinal (P=0.01) failures, and the failure of > or =3 organs (P=0.01). In the multivariate analysis, the presence of aGVHD grades III or IV, male gender, severe hemorrhagic cystitis, and the failure of > or =3 organs were found to be independent predictors of mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The need for intensive care is common among child recipients of a BMT. These patients have a high mortality rate but some complications are reversible with critical care support. Certain clinical parameters are useful to establish a realistic prognosis and to optimize the use of the available resources.