Clinical Edge

Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Post-Auto HSCT Mortality in Elderly with MM

Biol Blood Marrow Transplant; ePub 2017 Mar 9; Sanchez, et al

In-hospital mortality was similar in elderly and younger people with multiple myeloma who underwent auto-HSCT in an analysis involving more than 2,200 individuals. Still, older patients were more likely to experience complications, stay in the hospital longer, and incur higher costs.

Participants included multiple myeloma patients admitted to the hospital between 2008 and 2010. Three-fourths were younger than age 65; the remainder were ≥65. Among the results:

  • In-hospital mortality was rare overall, <2%, and similar in both groups.
  • Average length of stay for the elderly was nearly 19 days, vs almost 17 days in the younger group.
  • Hospital charges averaged ~$161,000 in the elderly, vs ~$151,000 in the younger group.
  • Elderly patients were more likely to experience severe sepsis, septic shock, acute respiratory failure, pneumonia, acute renal failure, cardiac arrhythmias, and endotracheal intubation requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation.

Citation:

Sanchez L, Sylvester M, Parrondo R, Mariotti V, Eloy J, Chang V. In-hospital mortality and post-transplant complications in elderly multiple myeloma patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A population-based study. [Published online ahead of print March 9, 2017]. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. doi:10.1016/j.bbmt.2017.03.012.