BACKGROUND: Restoring normal fecal flora through intestinal microbiota transplantation (IMT) was successful in curing recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). However, only a few cases have been reported of IMT being utilized for the treatment of severe or fulminant CDI.
AIM: Is IMT a simple and effective treatment for severe and recurrent CDI?
METHODS: In this retrospective study, we report 14 patients with severe CDI refractory to conventional medical therapy, who underwent IMT. Fresh donor stool specimen was manually homogenized with warm tap water, filtered through gauze and then instilled through nasogastric tube (NGT). The primary outcome was clinical cure, defined as less than 3 loose bowel movements a day on day 7 after IMT and no need for further CDI therapy. The secondary outcomes were recurrence of CDI within 100 days of IMT and 30-day mortality after IMT. Descriptive statistics were done.
RESULTS: Fourteen patients with severe and refractory CDI received IMT. Mean age was 73.4 ± 11.9 years (range 52-92). IMT was given via NGT in 13 of the 14 patients. Eleven patients (79 %) achieved cure after IMT. No recurrence was seen in the patients who responded to IMT and were alive within the 100 day follow-up period. IMT was well tolerated. The 30-day all-cause mortality was 29 %, all 4 patients died as a result of their underlying cancer. No patients died as a result of CDI or IMT.
CONCLUSIONS: IMT performed at the bedside via NGT is effective and safe for the treatment of severe and refractory CDI, and prevents recurrence.
BACKGROUND: Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) with poor response to standard antimicrobial therapy is a growing medical concern. We aimed to investigate the outcomes of fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for relapsing CDI using a frozen suspension from unrelated donors, comparing colonoscopic and nasogastric tube (NGT) administration.
METHODS: Healthy volunteer donors were screened and a frozen fecal suspension was generated. Patients with relapsing/refractory CDI were randomized to receive an infusion of donor stools by colonoscopy or NGT. The primary endpoint was clinical resolution of diarrhea without relapse after 8 weeks. The secondary endpoint was self-reported health score using standardized questionnaires.
RESULTS: A total of 20 patients were enrolled, 10 in each treatment arm. Patients had a median of 4 (range, 2-16) relapses prior to study enrollment, with 5 (range, 3-15) antibiotic treatment failures. Resolution of diarrhea was achieved in 14 patients (70%) after a single FMT (8 of 10 in the colonoscopy group and 6 of 10 in the NGT group). Five patients were retreated, with 4 obtaining cure, resulting in an overall cure rate of 90%. Daily number of bowel movements changed from a median of 7 (interquartile range [IQR], 5-10) the day prior to FMT to 2 (IQR, 1-2) after the infusion. Self-ranked health score improved significantly, from a median of 4 (IQR, 2-6) before transplant to 8 (IQR, 5-9) after transplant. No serious or unexpected adverse events occurred.
CONCLUSIONS: In our initial feasibility study, FMT using a frozen inoculum from unrelated donors is effective in treating relapsing CDI. NGT administration appears to be as effective as colonoscopic administration.
CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: NCT01704937.
OBJECTIVE: To report the efficacy and safety of, and patient satisfaction with, colonoscopic fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for community- and hospital-acquired Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).
METHODS: A retrospective medical records review of patients who underwent FMT between July 1, 2012 and August 31, 2013 was conducted. A total of 22 FMTs were performed on 20 patients via colonoscopy. The patients were divided into 'community-acquired' and 'hospital-acquired' CDI. Telephone surveys were conducted to determine procedure outcome and patient satisfaction. Primary cure rate was defined as resolution of diarrhea without recurrence within three months of FMT, whereas secondary cure rate described patients who experienced resolution of diarrhea and return of normal bowel function after a second course of FMT.
RESULTS: Nine patients met the criteria for community-acquired CDI whereas 11 were categorized as hospital-acquired CDI. A female predominance in the community-acquired group (88.89% [eight of nine]) was found (P=0.048). The primary cure rate was 100% (nine of nine) and 81.8% (nine of 11 patients) in community- and hospital-acquired CDI groups, respectively (P=0.189). Two patients in the hospital-acquired group had to undergo a repeat FMT for persistent symptomatic infection; the secondary cure rate was 100%. During the six-month follow-up, all patients were extremely satisfied with the procedure and no complications or adverse events were reported.
CONCLUSION: FMT was a highly successful and very acceptable treatment modality for treating both community- and hospital-acquired CDI.
IMPORTANCE: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been shown to be effective in treating relapsing or refractory Clostridium difficile infection, but practical barriers and safety concerns have prevented its widespread use.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and rate of resolution of diarrhea following administration of frozen FMT capsules from prescreened unrelated donors to patients with recurrent C. difficile infection.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Open-label, single-group, preliminary feasibility study conducted from August 2013 through June 2014 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Twenty patients (median age, 64.5 years; range, 11-89 years) with at least 3 episodes of mild to moderate C. difficile infection and failure of a 6- to 8-week taper with vancomycin or at least 2 episodes of severe C. difficile infection requiring hospitalization were enrolled.
INTERVENTIONS: Healthy volunteers were screened as potential donors and FMT capsules were generated and stored at -80°C (-112°F). Patients received 15 capsules on 2 consecutive days and were followed up for symptom resolution and adverse events for up to 6 months.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary end points were safety, assessed by adverse events of grade 2 or above, and clinical resolution of diarrhea with no relapse at 8 weeks. Secondary end points included improvement in subjective well-being per standardized questionnaires and daily number of bowel movements.
RESULTS: No serious adverse events attributed to FMT were observed. Resolution of diarrhea was achieved in 14 patients (70%; 95% CI, 47%-85%) after a single capsule-based FMT. All 6 nonresponders were re-treated; 4 had resolution of diarrhea, resulting in an overall 90% (95% CI, 68%-98%) rate of clinical resolution of diarrhea (18/20). Daily number of bowel movements decreased from a median of 5 (interquartile range [IQR], 3-6) the day prior to administration to 2 (IQR, 1-3) at day 3 (P = .001) and 1 (IQR, 1-2) at 8 weeks (P < .001). Self-ranked health scores improved significantly on a scale of 1 to 10 from a median of 5 (IQR, 5-7) for overall health and 4.5 (IQR, 3-7) for gastrointestinal-specific health on the day prior to FMT to 8 (IQR, 7-9) after FMT administration for both overall and gastrointestinal health (P = .001). Patients needing a second treatment to obtain resolution of diarrhea had lower pretreatment health scores (median, 6.5 [IQR, 5-7.3] vs 5 [IQR, 2.8-5]; P = .02).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This preliminary study among patients with relapsing C. difficile infection provides data on adverse events and rates of resolution of diarrhea following administration of FMT using frozen encapsulated inoculum from unrelated donors. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results and to evaluate long-term safety and effectiveness.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01914731.
Journal»Digestive and liver disease : official journal of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology and the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver
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.
BACKGROUND: Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant problem due to its increased incidence and severity. Failure rates for standard antibiotic therapies are high. In our hospital, faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), or instillation of a culture mixture of known enteric bacteria in saline as rectal bacteriotherapy (RBT), has long been used as 'rescue therapy' in patients with recurrent disease, in whom repeated courses of standard antibiotic treatment have failed. We wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of FMT and RBT for recurrent CDI.
METHODS: The records of 31 patients treated with either FMT or RBT for recurrent CDI were reviewed retrospectively. FMT was based on faecal donation by a close relative and RBT on a defined saline mixture of 10 individually cultured enteric bacterial strains originally isolated from healthy persons. Both types of instillation were carried out through a rectal catheter. FMT (500 ml) was given as 1 installation. RBT (200 ml) was given as 2 or 3 installations with an interval of 2 days between courses. Treatment success was defined as a sustained loss of symptoms and discontinuation of diarrhoea within 3 days.
RESULTS: Of 31 patients, 23 (74%) responded successfully to the treatment: 16 of 23 (70%) receiving FMT and 7 of 8 (88%) receiving RBT.
CONCLUSION: We found FMT to be effective in patients with recurrent CDI. RBT based on a predefined bacterial suspension was as effective as or better than FMT based on faecal donation; however, multiple installations may be needed.
Restoring normal fecal flora through intestinal microbiota transplantation (IMT) was successful in curing recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). However, only a few cases have been reported of IMT being utilized for the treatment of severe or fulminant CDI.
AIM:
Is IMT a simple and effective treatment for severe and recurrent CDI?
METHODS:
In this retrospective study, we report 14 patients with severe CDI refractory to conventional medical therapy, who underwent IMT. Fresh donor stool specimen was manually homogenized with warm tap water, filtered through gauze and then instilled through nasogastric tube (NGT). The primary outcome was clinical cure, defined as less than 3 loose bowel movements a day on day 7 after IMT and no need for further CDI therapy. The secondary outcomes were recurrence of CDI within 100 days of IMT and 30-day mortality after IMT. Descriptive statistics were done.
RESULTS:
Fourteen patients with severe and refractory CDI received IMT. Mean age was 73.4 ± 11.9 years (range 52-92). IMT was given via NGT in 13 of the 14 patients. Eleven patients (79 %) achieved cure after IMT. No recurrence was seen in the patients who responded to IMT and were alive within the 100 day follow-up period. IMT was well tolerated. The 30-day all-cause mortality was 29 %, all 4 patients died as a result of their underlying cancer. No patients died as a result of CDI or IMT.
CONCLUSIONS:
IMT performed at the bedside via NGT is effective and safe for the treatment of severe and refractory CDI, and prevents recurrence.
