eMedicine Specialties > Hematology > Immune System and Disorders

Neutropenia: Follow-up

Author: John E Godwin, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine, Chief Division of Hematology/Oncology, Associate Director, Simmons Cooper Cancer Institute, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Coauthor(s): Christopher D Braden, DO, Attending Physician, Department of Hematology and Oncology, St. Francis Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Oct 4, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Obtain daily CBC counts with manual differential to monitor the neutropenic patient's recovery from an etiologic agent or to monitor the neutropenia's response to G-CSF or GM-CSF.

Complications

  • Most commonly, complications of neutropenia include fever and infections.

Prognosis

  • The prognosis depends on the primary etiology, duration, and severity of the neutropenia.

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Failure to recognize neutropenia by performing a CBC count may lead to medicolegal pitfalls.
  • Failure to consider the presence of neutropenic fever, a medical emergency that usually requires hospital admission: Hospital protocols indicate expediting the first dose of antibiotics in patients with neutropenic fever, which helps to minimize medicolegal problems and improves the prognosis for the patient.
 


More on Neutropenia

Overview: Neutropenia
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Neutropenia
Treatment & Medication: Neutropenia
Follow-up: Neutropenia
References
Further Reading

References

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Further Reading

Related eMedicine Topics

Clinical Trials
Clinical Guidelines

Keywords

neutropenia, Schultz disease, agranulocytosis, granulocytopenia, leukopenia, neutropenic fever, circulating neutrophils, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, G-CSF, bone marrow transplantation, Kostmann syndrome, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, Zinsser-Cole-Engman syndrome

Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

John E Godwin, MD, MS, Professor of Medicine, Chief Division of Hematology/Oncology, Associate Director, Simmons Cooper Cancer Institute, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
John E Godwin, MD, MS is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Heart Association, and American Society of Hematology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Christopher D Braden, DO, Attending Physician, Department of Hematology and Oncology, St. Francis Cancer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Karen Seiter, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology/Hematology, New York Medical College
Karen Seiter, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for Cancer Research, American College of Physicians, and American Society of Hematology
Disclosure: Novartis Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Schering Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Cephalon Honoraria Speaking and teaching

Pharmacy Editor

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment

Managing Editor

Troy H Guthrie, Jr, MD, Director of Cancer Institute, Baptist Medical Center
Troy H Guthrie, Jr, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Federation for Medical Research, American Medical Association, American Society of Hematology, Florida Medical Association, Medical Association of Georgia, and Southern Medical Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Rajalaxmi McKenna, MD, FACP, Southwest Medical Consultants, SC, Department of Medicine, Good Samaritan Hospital, Advocate Health Systems
Rajalaxmi McKenna, MD, FACP is a member of the following medical societies: American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology, and International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Emmanuel C Besa, MD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University
Emmanuel C Besa, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Association for Cancer Education, American College of Clinical Pharmacology, American Federation for Medical Research, American Society of Hematology, and New York Academy of Sciences
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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