No abstract available.
Enterocolitis, Neutropenic* ; Leukemia*

It is known that neutropenia caused by combination pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is well tolerated and carries a negligible risk of infection. Neutropenic enterocolitis is encountered most frequently in patients with hemato-oncologic diseases who are undergoing intensive chemotherapy. However, little information exists regarding this life-threatening event in the setting of HCV therapy. We present here an unusual case of fatal neutropenic enterocolitis in a cirrhotic patient receiving combination therapy for HCV infection. This is the first report of a death from neutropenic enterocolitis associated with treatment for chronic HCV infection. The present case suggests that caution should be exercised when continuing HCV therapy in neutropenic patients with advanced fibrosis, and the decision to maintain such therapy should be balanced against the potential for serious adverse events.
Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; Fibrosis ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; Humans ; Interferons ; Neutropenia ; Ribavirin

Neutropenic enterocolitis is observed in approximately 10~46% of patients with acute leukemia, as well as in patients with other diseases, like acquired immunodeficiency syndrom (AIDS), that lead to profound neutropenia. Patients who become neutropenic after combined chemotherapy are at special risk of developing neutropenic enterocolitis. With the recently increasing numbers of patients with solid tumors treated with high-dose chemotherapy, the frequency of this disease is expected to increase. However, this disease has been rarely reported in patients with colon cancer treated with leucovorin and 5-fluorouracil for adjuvant chemotherapy. We report a case of neutropenic enterocolitis after a treatment of 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin for sigmoid colon cancer.
Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Drug Therapy* ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic* ; Fluorouracil ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; Leukemia ; Neutropenia ; Sigmoid Neoplasms

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; drug therapy

Typhlitis or neutropenic enterocolitis is a life-threatening, necrotizing process of the cecum whose incidence is increasing. Typhlitis presents as fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea in neutropenic patients. As the incidence of typhlitis increases, emergency physicians must be aware of this rapidly progressive and potentially fatal disease. The definitive management of typhlitis is controversial. The most prudent course for the emergency physician is to initiate aggressive medical management early in the ED. We describe a 25-year-old man with severe neutropenia presented to the emergency department with fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea that began 2days earlier. Abdominal computerized tomography(CT) demonstrated diffuse concentric thickening of the cecal wall, intramural edema, inflammatory bowel changes but no free air and abscess formation. He was recovered by early diagnosis and aggressive medical therapy. We report a case of typhlitis with literature reviews.
Abdominal Pain ; Abscess ; Adult ; Cecum ; Diarrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Edema ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; Fever ; Humans ; Incidence ; Neutropenia ; Typhlitis*

Neutropenic enterocolitis is an acute life-threatening, necrotizing inflammation of cecum and terminal ileum often seen in leukemia and lymphoma during periods of prolonged or severe neutropenia. It has been also referred to as necrotizing enterocolitis, ileocecal syndrome, or typhlitis (from the Greek word typhlon meaning cecum). The pathophysiology of the neutropenic enterocolitis is unknown but is believed to be multifactorial. The clinical symptoms of neutropenic enterocolitis are nonspecific including fever, abdominal pain (often right lower quadrant), abdominal distension, diarrhea, bloody stools, nausea, and vomiting. So acute appendicitis is should be included in the differential diagnosis. The early signs and symptoms are nonspecific and it may rapidly lead to intestinal perforation. The definite management of neutropenic enterocolitis is contrversial. but the prognosis is likely to be good with early diagnosis and proper management. We report one case of neutropenic enterocolitis in acute myelogenous leukemia with literature review.
Abdominal Pain ; Appendicitis ; Cecum ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diarrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic* ; Fever ; Ileum ; Inflammation ; Intestinal Perforation ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* ; Lymphoma ; Nausea ; Neutropenia ; Prognosis ; Typhlitis ; Vomiting

Typhlitis is one of the most ominous complications in immunocompromised patients. Neutropenic enterocolitis or typhlitis is a clinical syndrome characterized by fever, diarrhea and abdominal pain that occurs in neutropenic patients. It has been reported as a complication of childhood leukemia, but is now known to occur in adults with solid malignancies, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The association of typhlitis and propylthiouracil has not been previously reported. We report a case of a 42-year-old female patient with typhlitis due to propylthiouracil patient with hyperthyroidism.
Abdominal Pain ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Adult ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; Diarrhea ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Hyperthyroidism* ; Immunocompromised Host ; Leukemia ; Propylthiouracil* ; Typhlitis*

Paclitaxel has been widely used for treating many solid tumors. Although colonic toxicity is an unusual complication of paclitaxel-based chemotherapy, the reported toxicities include pseudomembranous colitis, neutropenic enterocolitis and on rare occasions ischemic colitis. Genexol-PM(R), which is a recently developed cremophor-free, polymeric micelle-formulated paclitaxel, has shown a more potent antitumor effect because it can increase the usual dose of paclitaxel due to that Genexol-PM(R) does not include the toxic cremophor compound. We report here on a case of a 57-year-old man with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and who developed ischemic colitis after chemotherapy with Genexol-PM(R) and cisplatin. He complained of hematochezia with abdominal pain on the left lower quadrant. Colonoscopy revealed diffuse mucosal hemorrhage and edema from the sigmoid colon to the splenic flexure. After bowel rest, he recovered from his symptoms and the follow-up colonoscopic findings showed that the mucosa was healing. Since then, he was treated with pemetrexed monotherapy instead of a paclitaxel compound and platinum.
Abdominal Pain ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Cisplatin ; Colitis, Ischemic ; Colon ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Colon, Transverse ; Colonoscopy ; Edema ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage ; Glutamates ; Guanine ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mucous Membrane ; Paclitaxel ; Platinum ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Polymers ; Pemetrexed

PURPOSE: Neutropenic enterocolitis is an acute, life-threatening inflammation of the small and large bowel, often seen in children with malignancies during periods of prolonged or severe neutropenia. The optimal management for typhlitis in pediatric oncology patients has been debateful between operative and nonoperative approaches. The purpose of this study was to review the outcome of medical management of patients who were diagnosed as typhlitis. METHODS: The records of 207 pediatric cancer patients who were diagnosed and treated at the pediatric department of Yeungnam University Hospital for cancer between August, 2002 and July, 2007 were reviewed. RESULTS: Among 207 patients, 12 (5.7%) children aged 9 to 14 years, were diagnosed clinically to have typhlitis. Clinical symptoms and signs of patients were fever, abdominal pain and tenderness, diarrhea, vomiting and rebound tenderness. Bowel-wall thickening (> 4mm) was seen on CT or ultrasonography. All patients were treated with antibiotics combinations of teicoplanin, carbapenem, aminoglycoside, or other third generation cephalosporin and metronidazole or clindamycin. Eight patients were treated with additional antifungal agents. Other supportive management included bowel rest, total parenteral nutrition, and G-CSF administration. All patients recovered completely and did not need any surgical management. CONCLUSION: Early diagnosis and aggressive supportive treatment appears to be important for complete recovery and survival of typhlitis.
Abdominal Pain ; Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Antifungal Agents ; Child ; Clindamycin ; Diarrhea ; Early Diagnosis ; Enterocolitis ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; Fever ; Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Metronidazole ; Neutropenia ; Parenteral Nutrition, Total ; Teicoplanin ; Typhlitis ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: Despite the advancement in chemotherapy and supportive care, a persisting problem in patients with leukemia is infectious complications, which are the leading cause of death. We evaluated infectious complications in acute leukemic patients to understand the current features and also evaluated risk factors for death in acute leukemia. METHODS: The medical records of 186 cases of acute leukemia who underwent chemotherapy in St. Mary's Hospital between January 1995 and December 1997 were reviewed. And we compared these data to our previous data published in 1994. RESULTS: One hundred (95%) cases among 126 leu- kemic patients who received induction chemotherapy and 42 (70%) of 60 cases who received consolidation chemotherapy experienced at least one febrile episodes during treatment. Microbiologically defined infection (MDI), clinically defined infection (CDI), and unexplained fever (UF) were evenly distributed. In MDI, the isolation rate of gram positive organism was markedly increased but that of fungus was decreased. The common clinical manifestations were bacteremia, pneumonia, neutropenic enterocolitis, and catheter infection, in the order of decreasing frequency. The overall mortality rates reduced from 50% (early of the 1980s) to 12.9%, but the infection-related mortality increased up to 80% in spite of improvement in supportive care, antimicrobials and administration of hematopoietic growth factors. Refractory or relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) had 5 times higher risk of death than primarily diagnosed AML and MDI had 10.9 times higher risk of death than UF. And one more febrile day increased the risk of death by 1.4 times. CONCLUSION: Infection is still the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in acute leukemia patients. Dominant infecting organisms are changing from gram-negative bacilli to gram-positive cocci. New preventive, diagnostic, and treatment strategies should be developed and prophylactic use of antimicrobials should be restricted as much as possible to prevent emergence of resistant microorganisms.
Bacteremia ; Catheters ; Cause of Death ; Consolidation Chemotherapy ; Drug Therapy ; Enterocolitis, Neutropenic ; Fever ; Fungi ; Gram-Positive Cocci ; Humans ; Induction Chemotherapy ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Leukemia* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Neutropenia ; Pneumonia ; Risk Factors