Strongyloidiasis in patients with hematologic malignancies

Abstract

We retrospectively studied 343 consecutive patients treated between 1979 and 1992. Ninety patients whose stool was not examined were excluded. Fifty-three patients with strongyloidiasis were compared with 200 controls with regard to outcomes and the following characteristics: age, sex, underlying disease, use of corticosteroids, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, pulmonary symptoms, and eosinophilia. Patients with strongyloidiasis more commonly had eosinophilia (P = .01) and fever (P = .03). There was a single but fatal case of the disseminated disease syndrome (1.9% of patients with strongyloidiasis). In multiple logistic regression analysis, the factors predictive for strongyloidiasis were schistosomiasis (odds ratio [OR], 6.58), ascariasis (OR, 2.78), and the use of steroids (OR, 2.29). Strongyloidiasis was highly prevalent among patients with hematologic malignancies in Brazil. Occurrence of the disseminated disease syndrome seems to be unusual.