Risk factors for invasive fusariosis in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND

Risk factors for invasive fusariosis (IF) have not been characterized. We attempted to identify risk factors for IF in a prospective cohort of hematologic patients treated in 8 centers in Brazil.

METHODS

Patients with (cases) and without (controls) proven or probable IF diagnosed in a cohort of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplasia (MDS), and in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients (early, until day 40; late, after day 40 posttransplant) were compared by univariate Cox regression analysis.

RESULTS

Among 237 induction remission courses of AML/MDS and 663 HCTs (345 allogeneic and 318 autologous), 25 cases of IF were diagnosed. In the AML/MDS cohort, active smoking (hazard ratio [HR], 9.11 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 2.04-40.71]) was associated with IF. Variables associated with IF in the early phase of allogeneic HCT were receipt of antithymocyte globulin (HR, 22.77 [95% CI, 4.85-101.34]), hyperglycemia (HR, 5.17 [95% CI, 1.40-19.11]), center 7 (HR, 5.15 [95% CI, 1.66-15.97]), and AML (HR, 4.38 [95% CI, 1.39-13.81]), and in the late phase were nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen (HR, 35.08 [95% CI, 3.90-315.27]), grade III/IV graft-vs-host disease (HR, 16.50 [95% CI, 2.67-102.28]), and previous invasive mold disease (HR, 10.65 [95% CI, 1.19-95.39]).

CONCLUSIONS

Attempts to reduce the risk of IF may include smoking cessation, aggressive control of hyperglycemia, and the use of a mold-active agent as prophylaxis in patients receiving nonmyeloablative HCT or ATG in the conditioning regimen. Future research should further explore smoking and other prehospital variables as risks for IF.