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Objectives Invasive Aspergillosis (IA) is a serious problem among hematological patients and it is associated with high mortality. This situation can worsen at times of hospital construction, however there are several preventive measures available. This work aims to define the cost-effectiveness of some of these interventions. Patients and methods A decision tree model was used, it was divided into four arms according to each 1 of the interventions performed. A cost-effectiveness incremental analysis comparing environmental control measures, high efficiency particulate absorption (HEPA) filter installation and prophylaxis with posaconazole was done. Probabilistic and deterministic sensitivity analyses were also carried out. Results Among 86 patients with 175 hospitalization episodes, the incidence of IA with environmental protection measures, antifungal prophylaxis and hospitalization in rooms with HEPA filters was 14.4%, 6.3% and 0%, respectively. An Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio analysis was performed and it was found that HEPA filtered rooms and environmental protection measures are cost saving interventions when compared with posaconazole prophylaxis (-$2665 vs -$4073 vs $42 531 US dollars, respectively) for IA episode prevented. Conclusion The isolation of inpatients with acute leukemia during hospital construction periods in HEPA filtered rooms could reduce the incidence of IA and might be a cost-effective prevention strategy.

The relative frequency of the non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) subtypes varies around the world. The objective of this study was to describe the general features of patients with lymphoma in Colombia. A total of 819 patients with a new diagnosis of lymphoma were included. Nighty-nine (12 %) of them had Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and 720 (88 %) had NHL. Most cases had advanced stage disease at presentation (63.6 %). Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was the most frequent diagnosis; it was seen in 40 % of patients with NHL and in 35 % of patients in the whole series. Overall survival rates at 3 years were 77 % for HL and follicular lymphoma, 54 % for DLBCL, and 45 % for T cell lymphomas. In conclusion, the distribution of specific NHL subtypes is similar to what has been reported previously in other tropical countries.

Objective/background: Noninfection-related fever can occur after peripheral blood stem cell infusion in haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with post-transplant cyclophosphamide. The objective of this study was to analyze the incidence of fever and characterize some clinical features of affected patients. Methods: A retrospective case-series study with 40 patients who received haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was carried out. Results: Thirty-three patients (82.5%) developed fever; no baseline characteristic was associated with its development. Median time to fever onset was 25.5 h (range, 9.5–100 h) and median peak temperature was 39.0 °C (range, 38.1–40.5 °C). Not a single patient developed hemodynamic or respiratory compromise that required admission to the intensive care unit. Fever was not explained by infection in any case. Ninety-one percent of the febrile episodes resolved within 96 h of cyclophosphamide administration. No significant difference in overall survival, event-free survival, or graft versus host disease-free/relapse-free survival was found in the group of febrile individuals after peripheral blood stem cell infusion. Conclusion: Fever after peripheral blood stem cell infusion in this clinical setting was common; it usually subsides with cyclophosphamide administration. The development of fever was not associated with an adverse prognosis. Keywords: Cyclophosphamide, Fever, Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, Peripheral blood stem cell transplantation, Prognosis

The objective of this study is to assess the prognostic usefulness of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) risk score in association with the value of C-reactive protein (CRP) to identify high-risk patients with febrile neutropenia and hematologic neoplasms. A retrospective cohort study in which the MASCC score and the CRP values were used to assess the mortality risk at 30 days among patients with febrile neutropenia and hematologic malignancies was performed. Two hundred thiry-seven patients with febrile neutropenia were analyzed; the mortality rate within 30 days was 9 %. High-risk patients according to the MASCC score were significantly more likely to experience adverse outcomes, such as being transferred to the intensive care unit (RR 3.55; CI 95 % 2.73–6.62, p