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• Neutropenic diet; low bacterial diet; hematopoietic stem cell transplant; bloodstream infections; nutrition; supportive care Neutropenic diets were adopted as a way to decrease the infection risks in immunocompromised individuals, but these diets result in significant restrictions in the variety and types of foods an individual may consume. We used a controlled before-and-after study design in consecutive pediatric and young adult patients who underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant at our center between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014. From January through June, all patients were placed on a traditional neutropenic diet; on July 1, we liberalized the bone marrow transplant (BMT) diet to a modified BMT diet. We compared the incidence of bloodstream infections in the first 100 days post-transplant, incidence of norovirus in the first 100 days, total parenteral nutrition days through day 100, incidence of grade 3 to 4 graft-versus-host disease at day 100, gastrointestinal graft-versus-host disease (any stage), and 100-day overall survival. In addition, we administered an investigator-created survey to evaluate food cravings, nausea, diet limitations, and subjective quality of life. In total, 102 patients underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplant during the study period. Forty-nine (48%) received the neutropenic diet and 53 (52%) the BMT diet. Other than more males receiving the neutropenic diet (67% versus 47%, P = 0.05), there were no statistical demographic and outcome differences between the 2 groups. Additionally, 46 subjects (45%) completed the investigator-created questionnaire. There was no difference in the perceived food cravings, nausea, diet limitations, and subjective quality of life between the 2 cohorts. These data demonstrate noninferiority of the modified BMT diet over the traditional neutropenic diet. We believe the food safety-based diet offers a greater variety of food, which may assist in the transition to a normal diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a severe complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). To determine incidence, risk factors and outcomes for patients who develop TMA following HSCT. All patients were prospectively screened for TMA at participating centers with daily CBC, renal panel, and blood pressure; twice weekly LDH; and weekly urine analysis, including urine protein to creatinine ratio, from the start of the preparative regimen through the first 30 days. All labs were transitioned to weekly from day +30 to +100. TMA was diagnosed if (1) pathologic evidence of TA-TMA (e.g., renal biopsy with evidence of TMA), or (2) if meeting laboratory/clinical markers diagnostic for TMA (Figure 1). Each site retrospectively reviewed the data from screened patients from their respective center, and these data were aggregated to determine outcomes. 589 consecutive patients received TMA screening at the 12 participating centers from May 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018. TMA was diagnosed in 10% (20 of 198) of autologous and 21% (85 of 391) of allogeneic HSCT recipients. Patients undergoing HSCT for an underlying immune deficiency or bone marrow failure syndrome had a significantly higher rate of TMA (p=<0.001) (Figure 2). TMA was diagnosed at a median of 32 (IQR 24-44) days post-HSCT. Patients with TMA had a higher need for intensive care admission (46% vs. 17%, p=0.0001); increased incidence of respiratory failure (19% vs. 7%, p=0.0001); and increased incidence of bloodstream infections (44% vs. 22%, p=0.0001) in the first 100 days versus patients not diagnosed with TMA. Patients with TMA averaged significantly more days inpatient during the first 100 days than those without TMA (65 +/-27 vs. 41 +/-22 days; p=0.001). Further, patients with TMA averaged significantly more days in the ICU during the first 100 days than those without TMA (10 +/-20 vs. 3 +/-11 days; p=0.001). Six-month non-relapse mortality was significantly higher in the TMA group (19/105,18% vs. 19/484,4%; p=0.0001). Finally, six-month overall survival was significantly decreased in patients with TMA (84/105, 80% vs. 453/484,94%; p=0.0001) (Figure 3). In patients diagnosed with TA-TMA, 49 (47%) were treated with eculizumab and 3 (3%) received plasmapheresis. In this multi-center cohort we demonstrate a high incidence of TMA after pediatric HSCT through prospective screening. Patients with TA-TMA have higher morbidity and mortality when compared to patients without TA-TMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]