Incidence of Febrile Neutropenia in Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) Recipients on levofloxacin prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND: Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are not uniformly considered as "high risk" enough to receive fluoroquinolone (FQ) prophylaxis. The risks versus benefits of FQ prophylaxis in autologous HSCT require further investigation.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients > 19 years old who received an autologous HSCT at Nebraska Medicine analyzed two time periods (period 1: no prophylaxis [2013-2015] versus period 2: levofloxacin prophylaxis [2015-2016]) to characterize the clinical impact of levofloxacin prophylaxis on autologous HSCT recipients.

RESULTS: A total of 224 autologous HSCT were screened with 214 included. Febrile neutropenia (FN) developed in 101/113 (89%) versus 60/101 (59%) patients in the no prophylaxis (NPx) versus prophylaxis (Px) group (P < .01). Time to onset of FN was a median 6 versus 7 days (P = .01), and total bloodstream infections (BSI) were 33/113 (29%) versus 7/101 (7%) (P < .01) in NPx and Px groups, respectively. Gram-negative BSI were absent in the Px group. Viridans group streptococci were the most common Gram-positive BSI overall, with FQ-resistance more common in Px recipients. Rates of Clostridium difficile infections, length of hospital stay, or death at 100 days post-HSCT did not differ between the groups.

CONCLUSION: Fluoroquinolone prophylaxis introduced into autologous HSCT care at our institution in 2015 resulted in prevention of Gram-negative BSI, decreased rates of FN, microbiologically documented infections, and a delay in time to onset of FN compared with the prior NPx. FQ prophylaxis in autologous HSCT recipients should be evaluated per individual institution.