CNS infections in patients with hematological disorders (including allogeneic stem-cell transplantation)-Guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Working Party (AGIHO) of the German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO)

TY - JOUR

T1 - CNS infections in patients with hematological disorders (including allogeneic stem-cell transplantation)-Guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Working Party (AGIHO) of the German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO)

AU - Schmidt-Hieber, M

AU - Silling, G

AU - Schalk, E

AU - Heinz, W

AU - Panse, J

AU - Penack, O

AU - Christopeit, M

AU - Buchheidt, D

AU - Meyding-Lamadé, U

AU - Hähnel, S

AU - Wolf, H H

AU - Ruhnke, M

AU - Schwartz, S

AU - Maschmeyer, G

N1 - © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

PY - 2016/7

Y1 - 2016/7

N2 - Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) are infrequently diagnosed in immunocompetent patients, but they do occur in a significant proportion of patients with hematological disorders. In particular, patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation carry a high risk for CNS infections of up to 15%. Fungi and Toxoplasma gondii are the predominant causative agents. The diagnosis of CNS infections is based on neuroimaging, cerebrospinal fluid examination and biopsy of suspicious lesions in selected patients. However, identification of CNS infections in immunocompromised patients could represent a major challenge since metabolic disturbances, side-effects of antineoplastic or immunosuppressive drugs and CNS involvement of the underlying hematological disorder may mimic symptoms of a CNS infection. The prognosis of CNS infections is generally poor in these patients, albeit the introduction of novel substances (e.g. voriconazole) has improved the outcome in distinct patient subgroups. This guideline has been developed by the Infectious Diseases Working Party (AGIHO) of the German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO) with the contribution of a panel of 14 experts certified in internal medicine, hematology/oncology, infectious diseases, intensive care, neurology and neuroradiology. Grades of recommendation and levels of evidence were categorized by using novel criteria, as recently published by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

AB - Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) are infrequently diagnosed in immunocompetent patients, but they do occur in a significant proportion of patients with hematological disorders. In particular, patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation carry a high risk for CNS infections of up to 15%. Fungi and Toxoplasma gondii are the predominant causative agents. The diagnosis of CNS infections is based on neuroimaging, cerebrospinal fluid examination and biopsy of suspicious lesions in selected patients. However, identification of CNS infections in immunocompromised patients could represent a major challenge since metabolic disturbances, side-effects of antineoplastic or immunosuppressive drugs and CNS involvement of the underlying hematological disorder may mimic symptoms of a CNS infection. The prognosis of CNS infections is generally poor in these patients, albeit the introduction of novel substances (e.g. voriconazole) has improved the outcome in distinct patient subgroups. This guideline has been developed by the Infectious Diseases Working Party (AGIHO) of the German Society of Hematology and Medical Oncology (DGHO) with the contribution of a panel of 14 experts certified in internal medicine, hematology/oncology, infectious diseases, intensive care, neurology and neuroradiology. Grades of recommendation and levels of evidence were categorized by using novel criteria, as recently published by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1093/annonc/mdw155

DO - 10.1093/annonc/mdw155

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 27052648

VL - 27

SP - 1207

EP - 1225

JO - ANN ONCOL

JF - ANN ONCOL

SN - 0923-7534

IS - 7

ER -