{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T18:19:27Z","timestamp":1790965167889,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,9]],"date-time":"2022-01-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1641686400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a medical emergency that requires urgent evaluation, timely administration of empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics and careful monitoring in order to optimize the patient\u2019s outcome, especially in the setting of both allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant (ASCT). Methods: In this real-life retrospective study, a total of 49 consecutive episodes of FN were evaluated in 40 adult patients affected by either multiple myeloma (thirty-eight) or lymphoma (eleven), following ASCT, with nine patients having fever in both of the tandem transplantations. Results: Febrile neutropenia occurred a median of 7 days from ASCT. Median duration of FN was 2 days, with 25% of population that had fever for at least four days. Ten patients had at least one fever spike superior to 39 \u00b0C, while the median number of daily fever spikes was two. Twenty patients had positive blood cultures with XDR germs, namely Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae, present in seven cases. ROC analysis of peak C-reactive protein (CRP) values was conducted based on blood culture positivity and a value of 12 mg\/dL resulted significant. Onset of prolonged fever with a duration greater than 3 days was associated with the presence of both a peak number of three or more daily fever spikes (p = 0.02) and a body temperature greater than 39 \u00b0C (p = 0.04) based on odds ratio (OR). Blood culture positivity and peak CRP values greater than 12 mg\/dL were also associated with prolonged fever duration, p = 0.04, and p = 0.03, respectively. The probability of blood culture positivity was also greater in association with fever greater than 39 \u00b0C (p = 0.04). Furthermore, peak CRP values below the cut-off showed less probability of positive blood culture (p = 0.02). Conclusions: In our study, clinical characteristics of fever along with peak CRP levels were associated with a higher probability of both prolonged fever duration and positive blood culture, needing extended antibiotic therapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm11020312","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,9]],"date-time":"2022-01-09T20:29:26Z","timestamp":1641760166000},"page":"312","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["C-Reactive Protein Monitoring and Clinical Presentation of Fever as Predictive Factors of Prolonged Febrile Neutropenia and Blood Culture Positivity after Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation\u2014Single-Center Real-Life Experience"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Daniela","family":"Carc\u00f2","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Laboratorio Analisi Chimco Cliniche, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Uros","family":"Markovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Oncoematologia e BMT Unit, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical, Dental, Morphological and Functional Imaging Sciences, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Castorina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Laboratorio Analisi Chimco Cliniche, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Fisica, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy"},{"name":"Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, V Hole\u0161ovi\u010dkach 2, 18000 Prague, Czech Republic"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universit\u00e0 di Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valeria","family":"Iachelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Laboratorio Analisi Chimco Cliniche, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tecla","family":"Pace","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Laboratorio Analisi Chimco Cliniche, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paola","family":"Guardo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Laboratorio Analisi Chimco Cliniche, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriella","family":"Amato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Oncoematologia e BMT Unit, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Federica","family":"Galbo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Oncoematologia e BMT Unit, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paola","family":"Scir\u00e8","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Oncoematologia e BMT Unit, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gaetano","family":"Moschetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa di Oncoematologia e BMT Unit, Mediterranean Institute of Oncology, Via Penninazzo 7, 95029 Viagrande, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1917","DOI":"10.1007\/s00277-020-04132-0","article-title":"De-escalation of empiric broad spectrum antibiotics in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with febrile neutropenia","volume":"99","author":"Rearigh","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ann. 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