Role of Clostridium difficile in a case of nonantibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis
Peikin, S.R.; Galdibini, J.; Bartlett, J.G.
Gastroenterology 79(5 Part 1): 948-951
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-5085 PMID: 7419019 Document Number: 158093
A 57-yr-old woman with chronic diarrhea, mild azotemia, and red cell casts in her urine was found to have pseudomembranous colitis. She had not received antimicrobial agents for at least 2 yr. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was found in kidney biopsy, and her renal function improved spontaneously. Pseudomembranous colitis was diagnosed by endoscopic biopsy. Her stool contained a cytophatic toxin that was neutralized by Clostridium sordellii antitoxin, and Clostridium difficile was cultured on selective media. This case indicates that C. difficile may be a cause of nonantibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis, as well as antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis.