Fecal Transplantation for Clostridium Difficile-"All Stool May Not Be Created Equal"

Abstract

Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive bacterium that is recognized as a causative organism of pseudomembranous enterocolitis. This infection has become a major public health challenge and is a source of considerable morbidity and mortality in those infected. We present a 62-year-old African American female with a long history of HIV infection, who presented with abdominal pain and continuous diarrhea due to pseudomembranous colitis. After failing multiple episodes of conventional therapy, it was decided to treat her with fecal microbiota transplantation. Fecal microbiota transplantation was given on 3 separate occasions from a biological-related donor without success. It was only after a fourth transplant was done with a nonrelated donor that the patient resolved her diarrhea within 48 hours. We suggest that fecal samples from different donors have different abilities to cure Clostridium difficile colitis in at least this immunosuppressed patient.

Keywords: HIV; colonoscopy; diarrhea; immunocompromised patient; pseudomembranous colitis.