[Study of infective complications in elderly patients with leukemia]

Elderly patients (more than 60 years old, n = 45) with leukemia who presented from 1976 to June 1987 were studied. Twenty-two were classified as the typical type and 23 were the atypical type (hypoplastic n = 10, low percentage n = 13) from the bone marrow findings at the time of diagnosis, among these 45 patients 102 infections, 48 of which occurred in patients with typical type leukemia, 31 infections occurred in hypoplastic leukemia and 23 in low percentage leukemia. Respiratory infections were the most common, regardless of the type of leukemia. The following pathogens, the majority of them were gram negative bacteria, were isolated before the administration of antimicrobial agents. Thirty infections were caused by multiple pathogens (typical 14, hypoplastic 10, low percentage 6). Of those 40% were caused by gram negative pathogens, 30% were due to both gram negative and positive pathogens. The causes of death in 37 patients included bleeding (n = 150 and infections (n = 13). Typical leukemia (n = 8) was the most common among patients who died of infection.