This study aimed to investigate the frequency of infections after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients who were diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) in our tertiary center.

We conducted a single-center retrospective study between May 2007 and November 2016. All patients with MM diagnoses were screened on our institutional electronic database and European Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation data-collecting forms.

Total 150 patients enrolled in the study. Nearly all patient developed fever. The median time from SCT to fever development was 7.4 ±2.8 days. The most frequently encountered infection type was pneumonia and soft tissue infections. Other clinically documented infections were oropharyngeal candidiasis, herpetic stomatitis, skin and soft tissue infections, and neutropenic colitis. One patient developed CMV colitis. Blood and urine cultures were positive in 18.6% and 20%, respectively.

The number of pre-transplant treatment regimens and antimicrobial lines was not statistically significant (p=0.34). No correlation was found between the timing of the SCT and the number of antimicrobial lines after transplantation (p=0.44). There was no statistical significance between febrile neutropenia and CD34 cell count (p=0.34). Early mortality rate was 0.6%. The early mortality rate covering the first 100 days was acceptable.