The Effect of Glucose Levels Prior to Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation on Post-Transplant Complications and Health Resource Utilization

Background: abnormal blood glucose (bg) levels during hematopoietic cell transplantation (hct) are associated with increased infections, delayed engraftment, and prolonged hospitalization, though little is known about these associations. materials and methods: we retrospectively evaluated mean bg levels in the week prior to hct and subsequent outcomes for 852 hcts at our hospital from 1/2009 – 12/2013 pertaining to 745 patients. outcomes included infections (pneumonia, c. difficile, positive cultures, administration of antimicrobials, or neutropenic fever), time-to-engraftment (tte), and quality indicators (30- and 90-day readmission rates [rr] and median length-of-stay [los]). results: we retrospectively evaluated mean bg levels in the week prior to hct and subsequent outcomes for 852 hcts at our hospital from 1/2009 – 12/2013 pertaining to 745 patients. outcomes included infections (pneumonia, c. difficile, positive cultures, administration of antimicrobials, or neutropenic fever), time-to-engraftment (tte), and quality indicators (30- and 90-day readmission rates [rr] and median length-of-stay [los]). conclusion: pre-hct bg trends may be a prognostic biomarker for adverse outcomes, and thus can help improve quality of care for hct patients.