A study, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, identified risk factors associated with early failure of fecal microbiota transplant in the treatment of recurrent or refractory Clostridium difficile infection.
Researchers collected patient characteristics, C. Diff history, FMT characteristics and outcomes data for patients treated at three academic tertiary referral centers. Early FMT failure was defined as non-response or recurrence of diarrhea associated with stool positively testing for C. difficile toxin or polymerase chain reaction within one month of FMT. The study cohort included 328 patients.
Here are four notes:
1. The indication for FMT was recurrent C. difficile in 87.2 percent of the cohort and severe or severe-complicated in 12.8 percent.
2. The early FMT failure rate was 18.6 percent.
3. Predictors of early FMT failure included:
• Severe or severe-complicated C. difficile
• Inpatient status during FMT
• Previous C. difficile-related hospitalization
4. Early FMT failure rates were 5.6 percent for low-risk patients, 12.7 percent for moderate-risk patients and 41 percent for high-risk patients.