Introduction: Fever in neutropenic patients is associated with unfavorable prognosis. The evolution of these patients can be fatal in the absence of appropriate treatment. Material and methods: we studied those neutropenic febrile patients whose cause of fever could not be established after 3 days of hospital stay. Results: The majority of the febrile neutropenic patients had advanced staged AIDS or haematologic cancers. The fever was caused by systemic yeast (Candida glabrata), and bacterial (coagulase negative staphilococci) infections. However, in many cases the cause could not be discovered. Despite the broad spectrum antibiotic treatment, the antifungals, the granulocyte colony stimulating factors used, many patients have died. Conclusions: The causes of FUO in neutropenic patients often remain undisclosed, these patients having bad prognosis. Therefore they must receive an early introduced emprirical treatment.
Keywords: neutropenia, fever of unknown origin, diagnosis, prognosis