Incidence of mucositis in patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at a single center

Abstract

Goal: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence of oral mucositis (OM) in patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT), relating it to the main clinical factors. Methodology: Descriptive analysis based on a randomized clinical study was conducted with patients undergoing HSCT at the University Hospital of Federal University of Juiz de Fora between January 2018 and June 2019. The World Health Organi­zation oral toxicity scale was used to assess the degree of oral mucositis and adverse events were graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) 4.0 version. Results: Thirty-eight patients were evaluated. The incidence of OM and severe oral mucositis (SOM) was 57.9% and 21.0%, respectively. The mean duration of OM was 7.2 ± 2.6 days and the lomustine, etoposide, cytarabine and cyclophosphamide protocol (LEAC) pre­sented the longest mean time 8.1 ± 3.1 days (p-value 0.02). The number of viable CD34+ cells and the onset day of neutropenia were predictors of SOM. Conclusion: The incidence of OM in patients undergoing HSCT was lower than reported in the literature, being more severe in patients who received less CD34+ cells and in patients with early onset of neutropenia.