AFEBRILE INFECTIONS IN ADULT PATIENTS WIT H ACUTE-LEUKEMIA

Characteristics of afebrile infection episodes among adult patients wi th acute leukemia are here described. Afebrile episodes represented 14 .3% of all infections. They significantly differed from the febrile ep isodes because: 1) they prevailed among patients with granulocyte coun t greater than 500/mm(3) (p < 0.001); 2) they often involved patients in complete remission (p < 0.0002); 3) they affected more frequently t he kidney and urinary tract than febrile infections (p = 0.0005) and 4 ) they lacked lung involvement (p < 0.01). The rate of documented infe ctions by cultures, cytology or serological tests was not different be tween both infection types. Observed mortality during afebrile episode s was threefold less than febrile infections; this difference, however , did not reach statistical significance. In conclusion, afebrile infe ction in acute leukemia is a distinct clinical entity, unlike febrile infection.