Empirical treatment of sepsis in neutropenic patients.
Febrile neutropenia remains a major cause of morbidity in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Although the mortality associated with febrile neutropenia has dramatically decreased over the last three decades, the overall death rate during and immediately after an episode of febrile neutropenia can be as high as 10% with half of the patients dying directly as a result of the infection itself. A series of developments has led to this marked reduction in mortality. Among them, a pivotal role has been played by the concept of hospital-based empirical therapy with broad-spectrum combinations of antibiotics, aimed primarily against Gram-negative organisms, namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Klastersky
J
J
Service de Médecine et Laboratoire d'Investigation Clinique, Institut Jules Bordet, Centre des Tumeurs de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles, Rue He'ger-Bordet 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019348:Empiricism; D005334:Fever / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000150:complications*; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018805:Sepsis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents