Fiebre secundaria a citostáticos

Abstract

Purpose: Fever is a very common clinical sign in regular clinical practice. Drugs are responsible for only a small part of the incidence. Material and methods: The clinical features of 85 cases of fever diagnosed in 2001 and 2002 in the Medical Oncology Department of our hospital were evaluated and classified into five groups, according to their etiology. Results: The findings were the following: 39 patients presented neutropenic fever, 30 cases had fever due to a non-neutropenic infections, in 5 patients fever was of tumor origin, and in 11 cases fever was caused by drugs, 6 of them of early appearance, and the other 5 of late appearance. Conclusions: A comprehensive understanding of the hypersensitivity events promoted by cytostatic drugs would avoid needless administration of antibiotics and doing unnecessary tests. It can also help to know the pathogenesis of drug allergy.