Autologous bone marrow transplantation (auto-BMT) is frequently complicated by febrile episodes and systemic inflammation, particularly during the neutropenic phase, making inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) valuable for monitoring recovery and guiding clinical decisions. In this descriptive, retrospective study of 244 febrile auto-BMT patients in the West Bank, data on demographics, CRP levels (days 1–14), fever onset and duration, and white blood cell (WBC) engraftment were analyzed using non-parametric tests and Spearman correlation. Fever typically began around day 6.7, lasted 6.5 days, and was accompanied by a CRP peak on day 8 (mean 104.8 mg/L) before gradually declining, while WBC engraftment occurred on day 12.96 (SD ± 5.29). CRP levels significantly differed by cancer type and conditioning regimen (p < .001), but not by gender, age, or comorbidities, and were weakly correlated with fever duration and negatively with fever onset. WBC engraftment day showed moderate correlations with fever duration and end. These findings suggest that CRP and fever patterns follow a predictable inflammatory course peaking around day 8, with engraftment timing significantly affecting fever duration, underscoring CRP’s potential as a supportive biomarker for post-transplant monitoring.
Ghoul et al. (Thu,) studied this question.