Influence of quantity of granulocytes transfused on response

Data from 165 infectious &/or febrile episodes in granulocytopenic patients given granulocyte transfusions wee reviewed to determine what factors influenced clinical outcome and if there was any correlation between clinical improvement and dose of granulocytes given. Factors not related to granulocyte dose that influenced survival and clinical improvement included sex, the type of infecting organism and marrow recovery during the 3 weeks after the initiation of granulocyte transfusions. Patients infected with organisms other than Pseudomonas, females and those whose marrows recovered all had a significantly higher frequency of clinical improvement and survival. All 52 patients with marrow recovery survived the 21-day study period and 94% improved compared to only 59% survival and 48% improvement in those whose marrows did not recover. This observation indicates granulocyte transfusion therapy is a poor substitute for normal granulopoiesis.