249
Views
3
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Micafungin as empirical antifungal therapy in hematological patients: a retrospective, multicenter study in the Czech and Slovak Republics

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , & show all
Pages 1042-1047 | Received 10 Jun 2012, Accepted 07 Sep 2012, Published online: 15 Nov 2012
 

Abstract

The objective of this retrospective, multicenter study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of micafungin as empirical antifungal therapy during febrile neutropenia (FN) in 73 hematological patients from six centers in two countries. All patients received 100 mg of micafungin/day. The overall favorable response rate (RR) was 64.8% when the resolution of fever during neutropenia was included in the response criteria and 84.5% when excluded. A significantly lower favorable RR in patients with persistent fever and non-specific pulmonary infiltrates compared to patients with persistent fever only (82.8 vs. 52.4%, respectively; p = 0.011) was not found when resolution of fever was not included in the composite endpoint criteria (93.1 vs. 78.6%, respectively; p = 0.180). Breakthrough fungal disease developed in 2.7% of patients. Treatment was discontinued in 16.4% of cases. Only one patient (1.4%) discontinued therapy due to an adverse event. Posaconazole prophylaxis improved favorable RR when defervescence was included as composite endpoint criterion (p = 0.047), but not when it was excluded (p = 0.485). However, neutrophil recovery did not influence favorable RR (p = 0.803 and p = 0.112, respectively). These data suggest that micafungin is safe and effective as an empirical therapy in patients with FN.

Potential conflict of interest

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.informahealthcare.com/lal.

This work was supported by CELL – the CzEch Leukemia Study Group for Life, by the CEITEC – CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0068, and by grant no. MSM0021622430 from the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports of the Czech Republic.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.