Background Although hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only curative option for some children with malignant and nonmalignant disorders, the procedure itself carries a high risk of complications. A proportion of children undergoing HSCT develop severe transplant‐related complications requiring hospitalization in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Methods A retrospective cohort study included 793 children with malignant and nonmalignant diseases that underwent 963 HSCTs in two large pediatric hospitals over 15 years. Ninety‐one patients needed 105 (11%) PICU admissions. The objective of the study was to analyze the risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality in children post HSCT who were admitted to the PICU. Results Survival rate of a single PICU hospitalization was 43%. Long‐term survival rate (classified as 1 year and 3 years) was 29.1% and 14.9% among PICU hospitalized patients compared with 74.6% and 53.3% among patients who had undergone HSCT and did not require PICU hospitalization. Factors found to have a significant negative association with PICU survival were respiratory failure as indication for PICU admission, neutropenia, graft‐versus‐host disease, mechanical ventilation, inotropic support, need for dialysis, and multiple‐organ failure (MOF) with more than one systemic intensive intervention. The strongest prognostic factors associated with mortality were MOF (p < .001) and the need for inotropic support (p = .004). Conclusions Neutropenia was found to be negatively associated with survival, suggesting non‐engraftment and late engraftment are important risk factors for HSCT patients hospitalized in PICU. MOF and inotropic support were found to be the main negatively associated predictive factors with survival.

Adjusting the chronological age of preterm infants according to their gestational age is a widely accepted practice in the field of neurodevelopment. It has been suggested for the assessment of preterm infants with suspected infection, but has been poorly validated. Correcting for chronological age is especially critical in infants with a chronological age above 3 months, but a corrected age below 3 months due to the differences in assessment protocols. This study assessed the difference in incidence of serious bacterial infection (SBI) according to chronological and corrected age in preterm infants. A retrospective analysis of pediatric emergency department (PED) presentations was conducted for all 448 preterm infants born in between January 2010 and August 2019. Of the 448 preterm infants, 204 (46%) presented at one of 3 PEDs in Jerusalem, Israel, during their first year of life. Overall, 141 (31.4%) presented with fever and were included in the study. The infants were divided into 3 age groups: 1—corrected age >3 months; 2—chronological age >3 months, but corrected age <3 months; 3—chronological and corrected age <3 months. SBI was diagnosed in 2.6%,16.7%, and 33.3% of the infants in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively; (p < 0.01, p = 0.17, p < 0.001). The incidence of SBI in the control group of 300 term infants <3 months presenting to the PED due to fever was 15.3%. Preterm infants with a corrected age <3 months are at increased risk for SBI, similarly to term infants <3 months of age. Age correction should thus be considered for preterm infants presenting with fever.