ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 discussed the evolution of clinical prediction rules or statistically derived models for determining risk during the febrile neutropenic episode. Since the original paper by Bodey et al1 describing the relationship between the circulating neutrophil count and the incidence of infections in patients with acute leukemia, clinicians have used clinical trials methodology to improve treatment for these patients, and have made observations about factors that influence the risk of good or bad outcomes during the febrile episode. A comparison of the characteristics of the two methods for determining risk stratification is shown in Table 9.1. In this chapter, we shall discuss several of these factors and provide an overview of the clinical-trials-based methods for riskadjusted therapy in patients with fever and neutropenia.
