Demographics | Cases (n = 33) | Controls (n = 66) | p-value |
---|---|---|---|
Male gender | 18 (68.2%) | 45 (54.5%) | 0.184 |
Age, mean ± SD, years | 58.0 ± 11.3 | 52.2 ± 9.1 | 0.008 |
Type of malignancy: a | 0.378 | ||
Leukaemia (AML, MDS, ALL) for chemotherapy | 19 (57.6%) | 28 (42.6%) | |
Leukemia for allogeneic stem cell transplantation | 2 (6.1%) | 2 (3.0%) | |
Lymphoma’s, Kahler, CLL and others undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation | 6 (18.2%) | 17 (25.8%) | |
Lympfhoma’s, Kahler, CLL not undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation | 6 (18.2%) | 19 (28.8%) | |
Status of disease: | |||
Remission | 9 (27.3%) | 11 (16.7%) | 0.215 |
Not in remission b | 24 (72.7%) | 55 (83.3%) | 0.215 |
Relapse | 7 (21.2%) | 14 (21.2%) | 1.000 |
Reason for admission: | 0.476 | ||
Infection | 4 (12.1%) | 13 (19.7%) | |
Chemotherapy | 21(63.6%) | 34 (51.5%) | |
Stem cell transplantation c | 8 (24.2%) | 19 (28.8%) | |
Length of hospital stay: | |||
Length in days prior to positive blood culture, median (range) | 21 (2–52) | 13.5 (1–84) | 0.007 |
Length in days 1 year before admission, median (range) | 43 (6–131) | 24 (1–133) | 0.018 |
Signs of organ failure: d | |||
Renal (creatinine > 176 μmol/L) | 2 (6.1%) | 3 (4.5%) | 0.746 |
Hepatic (bilirubin >34 mmol/L) | 2 (6.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.109 |
Lung (bilateral lung infiltrates) | 4 (12.1%) | 10 (15.2%) | 0.769 |
Days of fever, median (range) d | 2 (0–7) | 0 (0–6) | 0.001 |
Neutropenia: | |||
Neutropenia <0.1 × 109/L e | 20 (60.6%) | 19 (28.8%) | 0.002 |
Neutropenia <0.5 × 109/L e | 28 (84.8%) | 28 (42.4%) | <0.001 |
Neutropenia <2.0 × 109/L e | 29 (87.9%) | 39 (59.1%) | 0.004 |
Duration of neutropenia <0.5 × 109/L prior to blood culture, median (range) | 8.0 (0–27) | 0.0 (0–26) | <0.001 |
CRP (C-reactive protein in mg/L): | |||
Levels 7 days prior to blood culture, median (range) | 26 (3–263) | 47 (5–347) | 0.07 |
Levels at time of blood culture, median (range) | 188 (7–288) | 108 (3–426) | 0.006 |
At time of blood culture CRP >125 mg/L | 23 (69.7%) | 24 (36.4%) | 0.002 |
Antibiotic therapy at time of blood culture and/or 30 days before: | |||
Penicillins | 24 (72.7%) | 40 (60.6%) | 0.234 |
Cotrimoxazole | 12 (36.4%) | 18 (27.3%) | 0.353 |
Quinolones | 25 (75.8%) | 51 (77.3%) | 0.866 |
Cephalosporins | 6 (18.2%) | 4 (6.1%) | 0.079 |
Carbapenems | 6 (18.2%) | 5 (7.6%) | 0.113 |
Others f | 19 (57.6%) | 16 (24.2%) | 0.001 |