Clostridium diffi cile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of hospital-associated gastrointestinal illness and places a high burden on our health-care system. Patients with CDI typically have extended lengths-of-stay in hospitals, and CDI is a frequent cause of large hospital outbreaks of disease. This guideline provides recommendations for the diagnosis and management of patients with CDI as well as for the prevention and control of outbreaks while supplementing previously published guidelines. New molecular diagnostic stool tests will likely replace current enzyme immunoassay tests. We suggest treatment of patients be stratifi ed depending on whether they have mild-to-moderate, severe, or complicated disease. Therapy with metronidazole remains the choice for mildto-moderate disease but may not be adequate for patients with severe or complicated disease. We propose a classifi cation of disease severity to guide therapy that is useful for clinicians. We review current treatment options for patients with recurrent CDI and recommendations for the control and prevention of outbreaks of CDI. Am J Gastroenterol 2013; 108:478-498; doi: 10.1038/ajg.2013 12. In patients in whom oral antibiotics cannot reach a segment of the colon, such as with Hartman's pouch, ileostomy, or colon diversion, vancomycin therapy delivered via enema should be added to treatments above until the patient improves. (Conditional recommendation, low-quality evidence)13. The use of anti-peristaltic agents to control diarrhea from confi rmed or suspected CDI should be limited or avoided, as they may obscure symptoms and precipitate complicated disease. Use of anti-peristaltic agents in the setting of CDI must always be accompanied by medical therapy for CDI. (Strong recommendation, low-quality evidence) Management of severe and complicated CDI14. Supportive care should be delivered to all patients and includes intravenous fl uid resuscitation, electrolyte replacement, and pharmacological venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. Furthermore, in the absence of ileus or signifi cant abdominal distention, oral or enteral feeding should be continued. 17. Vancomycin delivered orally (500 mg four times per day) and per rectum (500 mg in a volume of 500 ml four times a day) plus intravenous metronidazole (500 mg three times a day) is the treatment of choice for patients with complicated CDI with ileus or toxic colon and / or signifi cant abdominal distention. (Strong recommendation, low-quality evidence)18. Surgical consult should be obtained in all patients with complicated CDI. Surgical therapy should be considered in patients with any one of the following attributed to CDI: hypotension requiring vasopressor therapy; clinical signs of sepsis and organ dysfunction (renal and pulmonary); mental status changes; white blood cell count ≥ 50,000 cells / μ l, lactate ≥ 5 mmol / l; or failure to improve on medical therapy after 5 days. (Strong recommendation, moderate-quality evidence) Management of recurrent CDI (RCDI)19. The fi rst recurrence of CDI can be treated ...

OBJECTIVES Patients who are immunocompromised (IC) are at increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), which has increased to epidemic proportions over the past decade. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) appears effective for the treatment of CDI, although there is concern that IC patients may be at increased risk of having adverse events (AEs) related to FMT. This study describes the multicenter experience of FMT in IC patients. METHODS A multicenter retrospective series was performed on the use of FMT in IC patients with CDI that was recurrent, refractory, or severe. We aimed to describe rates of CDI cure after FMT as well as AEs experienced by IC patients after FMT. A 32-item questionnaire soliciting demographic and pre- and post-FMT data was completed for 99 patients at 16 centers, of whom 80 were eligible for inclusion. Outcomes included (i) rates of CDI cure after FMT, (ii) serious adverse events (SAEs) such as death or hospitalization within 12 weeks of FMT, (iii) infection within 12 weeks of FMT, and (iv) AEs (related and unrelated) to FMT. RESULTS Cases included adult (75) and pediatric (5) patients treated with FMT for recurrent (55%), refractory (11%), and severe and/or overlap of recurrent/refractory and severe CDI (34%). In all, 79% were outpatients at the time of FMT. The mean follow-up period between FMT and data collection was 11 months (range 3–46 months). Reasons for IC included: HIV/AIDS (3), solid organ transplant (19), oncologic condition (7), immunosuppressive therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; 36), and other medical conditions/medications (15). The CDI cure rate after a single FMT was 78%, with 62 patients suffering no recurrence at least 12 weeks post FMT. Twelve patients underwent repeat FMT, of whom eight had no further CDI. Thus, the overall cure rate was 89%. Twelve (15%) had any SAE within 12 weeks post FMT, of which 10 were hospitalizations. Two deaths occurred within 12 weeks of FMT, one of which was the result of aspiration during sedation for FMT administered via colonoscopy; the other was unrelated to FMT. None suffered infections definitely related to FMT, but two patients developed unrelated infections and five had self-limited diarrheal illness in which no causal organism was identified. One patient had a superficial mucosal tear caused by the colonoscopy performed for the FMT, and three patients reported mild, self-limited abdominal discomfort post FMT. Five (14% of IBD patients) experienced disease flare post FMT. Three ulcerative colitis (UC) patients underwent colectomy related to course of UC > 100 days after FMT. CONCLUSIONS This series demonstrates the effective use of FMT for CDI in IC patients with few SAEs or related AEs. Importantly, there were no related infectious complications in these high-risk patients.

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The overall CDI cure rates were high, with a large percentage of patients experiencing clinical improvement of their IBD after FMT. A minority of patients developed an IBD flare. No severe adverse events directly attributable to FMT were found in this largest reported series of recurrent or refractory CDI patients with concurrent IBD.

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We report preliminary clinical testing of elastic-scattering spectroscopy for the detection of pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. Tissue pathologies are detected and diagnosed using spectral measurements of elastically scattered light in an optical geometry that results in sensitivity to both the absorption and scattering properties of the tissue, over a wide range of wavelengths (300 to 750 nm). The system employs a small fiber optic probe, which is amenable to use with most endoscopes or catheters, or to direct surface examination, as well as interstitial needles. In this paper we report the results of preliminary clinical measurements on various organ sites of the gastrointestinal tract. In several instances the data indicate promise for this diagnostic method to distinguish malignant and dysplastic conditions from normal or other diagnoses.

FMT was successful and safe in this cohort of patients with severe or complicated CDI. Primary and secondary cure rates were 88.2% and 94.1%, respectively.

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