STRONGYLOIDIASIS IN PATIENTS WITH HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES

We retrospectively studied 343 consecutive patients treated between 19 79 and 1992. Ninety patients whose stool was not examined were exclude d. Fifty-three patients with strongyloidiasis were compared with 200 c ontrols with regard to outcomes and the following characteristics: age , sex, underlying disease, use of corticosteroids, abdominal pain, dia rrhea, fever, pulmonary symptoms, and eosinophilia. Patients with stro ngyloidiasis more commonly had eosinophilia (P = .01) and fever (P = . 03). There was a single but fatal case of the disseminated disease syn drome (1.9% of patients with strongyloidiasis). In multiple logistic r egression analysis, the factors predictive for strongyloidiasis were s chistosomiasis (odds ratio [OR], 6.58), ascariasis (OR, 2.78), and the use of steroids (OR, 2.29). Strongyloidiasis was highly prevalent amo ng patients with hematologic malignancies in Brazil. Occurrence of the disseminated disease syndrome seems to be unusual.