Aged ; Clostridium difficile ; Diarrhea ; microbiology ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous ; complications ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male

Pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) is highly prevalent in patients with broad spectrum antibiotic therapy. It can result in significant morbidity and mortality, especially if it is not diagnosed early. The clinical manifestation of PMC is diverse and symptoms usually are increased order of severity. Although leukocytosis is common, leukemoid reaction is very rare in PMC. We report a case of PMC associated with a leukemoid reaction without typical symptoms in a type 2 diabetic patient who have the multiple diabetic complications.
Clostridium difficile ; Diabetes Complications ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous* ; Humans ; Leukemoid Reaction* ; Leukocytosis ; Mortality

A case of high jejunal obstruction due to stricture is reported. It is a rare form of late sequelae of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis(NEC). Barium contrast study of the small bowel is recommended for earlier diagnosis and treatment before discharge from the hospital, even is an asympto-matic patient.
Child, Preschool ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/*complications ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction/*etiology/radiography/surgery ; Jejunal Diseases/*etiology/radiography/surgery ; Male

Toxic megacolon is a rare clinical complication of fulminant Clostridium difficile infection. The mortality rate of fulminant C. difficile infection is reported to be as high as 50%. Fecal microbiota transplantation is a highly effective treatment in patients with recurrent or refractory C. difficile infection. However, there are few published articles on the use of such transplantation for fulminant C. difficile infection. Here, we report on a patient with toxic megacolon complicated by C. difficile infection who was treated successfully with fecal microbiota transplantation.
Aged ; *Clostridium difficile ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/*complications ; Fecal Microbiota Transplantation/*methods ; Feces/*microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Megacolon, Toxic/*microbiology/*therapy

This is a case report on a 35-year-old man with acute myelogenous leukemia who presented fever and intermittent mucoid loose stool to the emergency center. He had been taking voriconazole for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. The flexible sigmoidoscopy was consistent with the diagnosis of pseudomembranous colitis.
Adult ; Antifungal Agents/*adverse effects ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/*chemically induced/pathology ; Humans ; Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis/complications/drug therapy ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/complications ; Male ; Opportunistic Infections/complications/drug therapy ; Pyrimidines/*adverse effects ; Triazoles/*adverse effects

BACKGROUND/AIMS: As the incidence rate of and mortality from pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) are increasing worldwide, it is important to study the simple predictive risk factors for PMC among patients with hospital-acquired diarrhea (HAD). This study focused on identifying the clinical risk factors that can easily predict PMC. METHODS: The presumed HAD patients were prospectively recruited at the Hallym University Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital. RESULTS: Age of 70 and older (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12 to 0.75), use of proton pump inhibitors (adjusted OR, 4.07; 95% CI, 2.512 to 6.57), use of cephalosporins (adjusted OR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.82 to 4.94), and underlying cancer (adjusted OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.04 to 2.82) were independent risk factors for PMC in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of PMC was very low in the patients with HAD who exhibited no risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The risk factors for PMC in patients with HAD included cephalosporin use, proton pump inhibitor use, old age, and cancer. Considering the strongly negative predictive values of these risk factors, endoscopic evaluation can be delayed in patients with HAD without risk of developing PMC.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; *Clostridium difficile ; Cross Infection/complications/*epidemiology ; Diarrhea/complications/*epidemiology ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/complications/*epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors

Pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) is known to be associated with the administration of antibiotics which alter normal gastrointestinal flora and allow overgrowth of Clostridium difficile. Most cases of rifampicin-induced PMC are seen in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, but not with gastrointestinal tuberculosis. We report a case of PMC associated with rifampicin therapy in a patient with gastrointestinal tuberculosis. A 65-year-old female patient with rectal cancer and gastrointestinal tuberculosis was admitted due to abdominal pain and diarrhea. She was treated with anti-tuberculosis agents containing rifampicin. On colonoscopic examination, mucoid exudates and yellowish plaque lesions were observed. Anti-tuberculosis agents were stopped, and the patient was treated with metronidazole. Symptoms were relieved and did not recur when all the anti-tuberculosis agents except rifampicin were started again. When a patient complains of abdominal pain or diarrhea while taking rifampicin, the physician should consider the possibility of rifampicin-associated PMC.
Aged ; Antibiotics, Antitubercular/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/*diagnosis/etiology/pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Rectal Neoplasms/*complications/diagnosis ; Rifampin/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Sigmoidoscopy ; Tuberculosis, Gastrointestinal/complications/diagnosis/*drug therapy

PURPOSE: Postoperative Infectious complications are recognized as major complications that are associated with surgery. Although many studies have focused on the risk factors of postoperative complications, little is known about the risk factors of infectious complications after gastric cancer surgery, and especially after elective gastrectomy. There is now more and more interest in the risk factors of infectious complications in relation to controlling infection and as indicators of qualitatively assessing infectious complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors related with infectious complications after performing elective gastrectomy for treating gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed a total of 788 patients who had undergone elective gastrectomy for gastric cancer between Jan. 2000 and Dec. 2007. The characteristics of the patients were divided according to the patients' factors and the operations' factors. RESULTS: The patients' mean age was 58.9 (range: 24~91) years; 545 were male and 243 were female. The mean duration of the hospital stay was 20.3 days (range: 5~135 days), the mean operation time was 181.3 minutes (range: 65~440 minutes). The total complication rate was 17.1% (n=135) and the complication rate was 38.5% (n=52) among the 135 patients with infectious complications. The infectious complications were surgical site infection (59.7%), pneumonia (19.3%), intra-abdominal abscess (11.5%), pseudomembranous colitis (5.7%), bacteremia (1.9%) and hepatic abscess (1.9%). On the univariate analysis, the significant risk factors were male gender, blood transfusion, smoking at the time of diagnosis, alcohol drinking, diabetes mellitus and previous cardiovascular disease (P<0.05 for all). On multivariate analysis that used a logistic regression model, the significant independent risk factors were smoking at the time of diagnosis (OR: 2.877. 95% CI: 1.449~5.713), blood transfusion (OR: 3.44O, 95% CI: 1.241~9.534), diabetes mellitus (OR: 3.150, 95% CI: 1.518~6.538), and previous cardiovascular disease (OR: 2.784, 95% CI: 1.4731~5.2539). CONCLUSION: Pre- or post-operative blood transfusion and the patient's medical history such as previous cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, smoking etc. are the risk factors for infectious complications after undergoing elective gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The patients that have these risk factors need to be treated with great care to prevent infectious disease after elective gastrectomy.
Abdominal Abscess ; Alcohol Drinking ; Bacteremia ; Blood Transfusion ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Communicable Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous ; Female ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Liver Abscess ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pneumonia ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Stomach Neoplasms

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It has been suggested that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and is associated with increased mortality among patients infected with C. difficile. However, recent studies of the clinical impact of CKD on CDI in Asians are still insufficient. We sought to determine the relationship between CKD and CDI in a Korean population. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective case-control study. In total, 171 patients with CDI were included as cases and 342 age- and gender-matched patients without CDI were used as controls. We compared the prevalence of CKD in the study sample and identified independent risk factors that could predict the development or prognosis of CDI. RESULTS: Independent risk factors for CDI included stage IV to V CKD not requiring dialysis (odds ratio [OR], 2.90) and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis (OR, 3.34). Patients with more advanced CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30) and CDI showed higher in-hospital mortality and poorer responses to the initial metronidazole therapy. CONCLUSIONS: More advanced CKD is an independent risk factor for CDI and is associated with higher in-hospital mortality and poor treatment responses in CDI patients. Thus, in CKD patients, careful attention should be paid to the occurrence of CDI and its management to improve the outcome of CDI.
Aged ; Anti-Infective Agents/therapeutic use ; Chi-Square Distribution ; Clostridium difficile/*pathogenicity ; Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous/diagnosis/drug therapy/*microbiology/mortality ; Female ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/*complications/diagnosis/therapy ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Metronidazole/therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Renal Dialysis ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic/*complications/diagnosis/mortality/therapy ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Treatment Outcome