Abstract
Background
Despite progress in diagnostic, prevention and treatment strategies, invasive mold infections (IMI) remain leading cause of mortality in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients (allo-HCT-recipients).
Methods
We describe the incidence, risk factors, and mortality of allo-HCT-recipients with proven/probable IMI in a retrospective single-center 10-year (01.01.2010-01.01.2020) cohort study.
Results
Among 515 allo-HCT-recipients, 48 (9.3%) patients developed 51 proven/probable IMI: invasive aspergillosis (IA; 34/51, 67%), mucormycosis (9/51, 18%) and other molds (8/51, 15%). Overall 35/51 (68.6%) breakthrough-IMI (bIMI) were identified: 22/35 (62.8%) IA and 13/35 (37.1%) non-IA IMI. One-year IMI cumulative incidence was 7%: 4.9% and 2.1% for IA and non-IA IMI, respectively. Fourteen (29.2 %), 10 (20.8%), and 24 (50.0%) patients were diagnosed during the first 30, 31-180, and >180 days post-HCT, respectively. Risk factors for IMI included: prior allo-HCT (SHR:4.06, p=0.004) and ≥grade-2 acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD; SHR: 3.52, p<0.001). All-cause 1-year mortality was 33% (170/515): 48% (23/48) and 31.5% (147/467) for patients with and without IMI (p=0.02). Mortality predictors included: disease relapse (HR:7.47, p<0.001), aGvHD (HR:1.51, p=0.001), CMV-serology-positive recipients (HR:1.47, p=0.03), and IMI (HR:3.94, p<0.001). All-cause 12-week mortality for patients with IMI was 35.4% (17/48): 31.3% (10/32) for IA and 43.8% (7/16) for non-IA IMI (logrank 0.47). At 1-year post-IMI diagnosis, 70.8% (34/48) of patients were dead.
Conclusions
IA mortality has remained relatively unchanged during the last two decades. More than two thirds of allo-HCT-recipients with IMI die by 1-year post-IMI diagnosis. Dedicated intensified research efforts are required to further improve clinical outcomes.
Prospective Randomized Study of Advance Directives in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients
