الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: Neutropenia is defined as decrease number of neutrophils. It occurs secondary to decreased production of neutrophils, increased neutrophil destruction or a combination of both mechanisms. Febrile neutropenia is characterized by occurrence of fever during the period of significant neutropenia. Infection is an important cause of fever in neutropenic patients where fever is the first symptom to appear. Apart from infection, other causes of fever in those patients include reaction to drugs or blood product as well as tumor associated fever. If fever is not accompanied by clinical or microbiological evidence of infection, it is classified as fever of unknown origin (FUO). Aim: Evaluation of the role of IL-8, CRP and PCT in early detection of infection in febrile neutropenic pediatric patients. Setting: Immunology unit at the Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University. Results: The biomarkers PCT, IL-8 and CRP were significantly higher in patients with infection than those without infection so, they can differentiate between infection and other causes of fever in febrile neutropenic patients. Conclusion: It was concluded that the use of combination of markers will help early diagnosis of infection and risk stratification of febrile neutropenic pediatric patients into high and low risk patients. Serial measurement of the biomarkers will help clinicians to determine efficacy of antibiotics and the appropriate time for antibiotic withdrawal. • Key words: febrile neutropenia , infections , PCT , CRP, IL-8.