Impact of prophylactic echinocandin on the development of neurological complications in patients receiving busulfan‐containing conditioning regimens for stem cell transplantation: A single‐center retrospective study

BackgroundAlthough neurotoxicity is a major adverse event associated with busulfan, little information is available regarding the association between drug interactions and neurological symptoms during busulfan‐based regimens. This study evaluated the association between prophylactic echinocandins and neurological complications in patients receiving busulfan‐containing conditioning regimens for stem cell transplantation.MethodsWe retrospectively included consecutive patients who administered intravenous busulfan as a conditioning regimen at our facility between 2007 and 2022. Prophylactic echinocandin use was defined as the use of an echinocandin antifungal drug to prevent invasive fungal disease in SCT recipients. The primary outcome was the incidence of neurological complications within 7 days of busulfan initiation and was compared between the echinocandin group (patients received prophylactic echinocandin) and nonechinocandin group (patients received prophylactic antifungal drugs other than echinocandin and those without antifungal prophylaxis).ResultsAmong the 59 patients included in this study, the incidence of neurological complications in the echinocandin (n = 26) and nonechinocandin groups (n = 33) was 30.8% and 63.6%, respectively. We observed a negative association between prophylactic echinocandin use and the development of neurological complications after adjusting for the propensity score for receiving prophylactic echinocandins (adjusted odds ratio 0.294, 95% confidence interval 0.090 to 0.959). We observed a lower incidence of neurological complications in the echinocandin group than in the nonechinocandin group.ConclusionOur results suggested that the choice of antifungal prophylaxis is associated with busulfan neurotoxicity.