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Association between early peak temperature and mortality in neutropenic sepsis

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Abstract

Fever is often the first sign of neutropenic infection, but its prognostic impact has not been established. We aimed to determine whether early peak temperature is associated with mortality in patients with neutropenic sepsis admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). We used a database of admissions to 157 ICUs in Australia and New Zealand between 2005 and 2013 to seek an association between peak temperature within the first 24 h in ICU and in-hospital mortality in neutropenic and non-neutropenic sepsis. Odds ratios for in-hospital death were calculated for four temperature bands, adjusting for illness severity. Two patient cohorts were identified: neutropenic sepsis (N = 4027) and non-neutropenic sepsis (N = 114,040). In-hospital mortality was higher in neutropenic sepsis than non-neutropenic sepsis. In both cohorts, early peak temperature below 36.5 °C was associated with significantly increased mortality compared to normothermia. Among non-neutropenic patients, an early peak temperature of 37.5 °C or higher was associated with reduced mortality compared to normothermia. In contrast, in patients with neutropenic sepsis, fever was not associated with reduced mortality compared to normothermia. Similar findings were seen in a subgroup of the neutropenic sepsis cohort with a documented haematological malignancy. In neutropenic sepsis patients admitted to ICU, a temperature below 36.5 °C is associated with increased mortality compared with normothermia. In contrast to non-neutropenic sepsis, fever was not associated with a significant reduction in mortality in neutropenic patients. Interventional studies are needed to determine whether physical or pharmacological measures to reduce fever influence outcomes during neutropenic infections.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation Management Committee for reviewing the study protocol. This work was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (grant number 13/699 to RW).

Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellington Blood & Cancer Centre, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand

    Robert Weinkove

  2. Vaccine Research Group, Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Wellington, New Zealand

    Robert Weinkove

  3. Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, University of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Robert Weinkove

  4. Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Michael Bailey

  5. Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Rinaldo Bellomo & David V. Pilcher

  6. Intensive Care Unit, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Rinaldo Bellomo

  7. St George Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Manoj K. Saxena

  8. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Constantine S. Tam

  9. Intensive Care Unit, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    David V. Pilcher

  10. Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand

    Richard Beasley & Paul J. Young

  11. Intensive Care Unit, Capital & Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand

    Paul J. Young

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  1. Robert Weinkove
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  2. Michael Bailey
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  3. Rinaldo Bellomo
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  4. Manoj K. Saxena
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  5. Constantine S. Tam
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  6. David V. Pilcher
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  7. Richard Beasley
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  8. Paul J. Young
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Correspondence to Robert Weinkove.

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Weinkove, R., Bailey, M., Bellomo, R. et al. Association between early peak temperature and mortality in neutropenic sepsis. Ann Hematol 94, 857–864 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-014-2273-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-014-2273-z

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