Outcome of Recipients of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants Who Require Intensive Care Unit Support: A Single Institution Experience

Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a patient who has been grafted with hematopoietic stem cells is a serious event, but the role of the ICU in this setting remains controversial. Data were analyzed from patients who underwent autologous or allogeneic bone marrow transplantation at the Centro de Hematología y Medicina Interna de Puebla, México, between May 1993 and October 2014. In total, 339 patients were grafted: 150 autografts and 189 allografts; 68 of the grafted patients (20%) were admitted to the ICU after transplantation: 27% of the allografted and 11% of the autografted patients (p = 0.2). Two of 17 autografted patients (12%) and 5 of 51 allografted patients (10%) survived. All patients who required insertion of an endotracheal tube died, whereas 7 of 11 patients without invasive mechanical ventilation survived (p = 0.001). Only 10% of the grafted patients survived their stay in the ICU; this figure is lower than those reported from other centers and may reflect several facts, varying from the quality of the ICU support to ICU admission criteria to the initial management of all the grafts in an outpatient setting, which could somehow delay the arrival of patients to the hospital.