Voriconazole plus caspofungin for treatment of invasive fungal infection in children with acute leukemia

BACKGROUND Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are a life-threatening problem in immunocompromised patients. Despite timely diagnosis and appropriate antifungal therapy, clinical outcomes of IFIs remain unsatisfactory, necessitating treatment with a combination of antifungal agents. Therefore, childhood leukemic patients treated with voriconazole plus caspofungin were evaluated for the safety and efficacy of the combination antifungal therapy to treat IFIs. METHODS In this retrospective study, medical records were retrieved for patients admitted to the Pediatric Department of Yeungnam University Hospital, Daegu, South Korea, between April 2009 and May 2013. Medical records of 22 patients were analyzed. RESULTS Of the 22 patients studied, nine (41%) had been diagnosed with probable IFI, and 13 (59%) with possible IFI. All patients, except one, were already receiving antifungal monotherapy for the treatment of neutropenic fever. After a diagnosis of IFI was confirmed, antifungal monotherapy was replaced with combination therapy. The study's overall response rate was 90.9%, with complete responses in 86.3% of the patients. Two patients experienced a side effect of a small increase in liver enzyme levels. CONCLUSION Voriconazole plus caspofungin combination therapy is an effective and safe treatment for serious IFI in pediatric patients with acute leukemia.