Risk factors for post-engraftment invasive aspergillosis in allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Abstract

The majority of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) occurs during the post-engraftment period. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate post-engraftment IA risk in a cohort of 217 allogeneic SCT recipients from 1991 to 1998. The aim was to quantify the effects of dose-intensity and duration of corticosteroids and other risk factors. Median duration of follow-up was 330 days. There were 19 cases of IA (overall 8.8%) with 14 post-engraftment infections. In the final model, the risk of IA was greatest within 2 weeks of high-dose corticosteroids (HR 8.5, P = 0.003), with risk extending to 4 weeks with doses of 0.25-1 mg/kg/day (HR 3.1, P = 0.0..