title: Infectious complications in children with severe congenital, autoimmune or idiopathic neutropenia: a retrospective study from the Italian Neutropenia Registry.
abstract: We describe the incidence and characteristics of infections in children with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN), autoimmune neutropenia (AN) and idiopathic neutropenia (IN). Data extracted from the Italian Neutropenia Registry on 73 patients with 108 episodes of infections were collected from 2000 to 2009. All SCN patients with SCN and one third of AN and IN experienced at least 1 infectious episode, equating to 5.7 infections/patient in SCN and approximately 0.6 in AN and IN. The rate of infections before diagnosis of neutropenia was 6.35/1000 patient-days at risk in SCN, 0.48 in AN and 0.71 in IN (P < 0.001) and significantly decreased after diagnosis. Skin and subcutaneous abscesses and cellulitis were the most frequent types of infection encountered, followed by pneumonia. Infections are an important clinical issue in the management of neutropenic patients, even in those considered at lower risk.
authors.affiliation: Haematology Unit, Giannina Gaslini Children's Hospital, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fioredda
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calvillo
authors.forename: Oriana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Burlando
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Riccardi
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Caviglia
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tucci
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonanomi
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghilardi
authors.forename: Baldassare
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Martire
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Farruggia
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mastrodicasa
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barone
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castagnola
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dufour
mesh_terms: D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000150:complications*