Custom Search by Tirgan.com

Home    Content    services

Neutropenia

There are various types of cells in the blood. The lowering of the white blood cells that fight infections is known as Neutropenia. It is the most important complication of chemotherapy. It is almost always due to impairment of bone marrow to produce cells and normally occurs a few days to a few weeks after chemotherapy. It is most severe in patients who receive aggressive treatments.

Signs and symptoms:

The signs and symptoms of Neutropenia depend on its severity. However, patients with even mild forms can develop major problems.

Even in the most severe cases, it may have no signs at all, or it may cause fever and infection. A fever in patients who have received chemotherapy must be taken seriously, requiring a complete evaluation. Taking Tylenol or aspirin will only mask the infection and should be avoided, unless prescribed by the medical oncologist after a proper evaluation.

Febrile Neutropenia:

One technical term of which cancer patients should be aware is "Febrile Neutropenia," which refers to having a fever while the white blood cell count is low. Fever indicates the presence of an infection, which, in most cases, originates from germs and bacteria that reside in the intestines or skin.

Febrile Neutropenia is a medical emergency and must be dealt with immediately. Any temperature over 100.5 F (Fahrenheit) or 37.5 C (Celsius) should be reported to the medical oncologist without delay. Hours and minutes are critical.

IF LEFT UNTREATED, THIS COMPLICATION MAY

BECOME FATAL IN A MATTER OF HOURS.

Treatment:

Patients should be admitted to the hospital immediately for treatment with intravenous antibiotics such as:

• Cefepime

• Primaxin

• Timentin

• Tobramycin

• Vancomycin

• Cipro

• Amikacin

• Fortaz

Fungal infections may occur in some patients in whom the white blood cell count remains very low for a long period of time. Fungal infections can cause persistent fever, despite regular administration of antibiotics. These infections need to be treated with anti-fungal antibiotics such as:

• Fungizon (Amphotericin)

• Abelcet (Liposomal Amphotericin)

• Diflucan

Another approach to treatment of febrile Neutropenia is the use of medicines, which stimulate bone marrow to produce more white blood cells. This can be achieved by:

• Neupogen

• Leukine

Febrile Neutropenia is fairly easy to treat unless there is a delay in the initiation of treatment.