Pham, H. P., Rogoza, K., Stotler, B., Duffy, D., Parker-Jones, S., Ginzburg, Y., . . . Schwartz, J. (2012). Granulocyte transfusion therapy in pediatric patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a 5-year single tertiary care center experience. Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, 34, e332–e336.
To determine the efficacy of granulocyte transfusion in neutropenic pediatric patients after undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
A retrospective observational review analysis was performed on all pediatric HSCT recipients between January 2005 and and January 2010 in a single center.
This was a retrospective observational review.
Data were analyzed using Fisher exact test for binary outcomes and the 2-tailed t test for continuous outcomes.
One hundred fifty-three granulocyte transfusions were administered to 16 pediatric HSCT recipients. Patients had bacterial infections (69%), fungal infections (19%), and combined infections (12%). Concurrent infections, mostly bacterial (60%), occurred. One adverse reaction of pulmonary toxicity was reported. The ANC of the stimulated products was significantly higher compared with the unstimulated products; however, neither the average number of granulocytes transfused by weight nor the outcomes difference were noticed between groups.
Granulocyte transfusion is safe in neutropenic and infected pediatric patients after HSCT. There was no difference in the outcomes between the groups that received stimulated products and those that received unstimulated products.
Recruiting pediatric patients for a randomized, controlled trial continues to be challenging.