1992 Volume 6 Issue 5 Pages 423-427
Fourty patients underwent peripheral blood stem cell autografts (PBSCT) without total body irradiation and were evaluated for the infectious complications developed within 4 weeks postgraft. The patients were kept in isolated room with a laminar air flow facility and under their mothers' daily care. Gut sterilizations, systemic prophylactic antibiotics, nonmicrobial diet or skin cleaning were not used. Acyclovir, cytomegalovirus hyperimmune globulin preparations, oral amphotericin B or oral fluconazole were administered prophylactically. Thirty-eight patients developed a total 43 febrile episodes and the diagnoses included mucositis (26), fever of unknown origin (10), pneumonia (5), septicemia (4), perianal abscess (4), fungemia (1), and varicella-zoster infection (2). All infectious episodes were successfully treated and none died of infectious complications. Our conclusion is that PBSCT can be performed safely with a simple and inexpensive patient management protocol without a strict aseptic procedure.
