An exploratory study to evaluate Clostridium difficile polymerase chain reaction ribotypes and infection outcomes

An exploratory study to evaluate Clostridium difficile polymerase chain reaction ribotypes and infection outcomes Abrar K Thabit,1,2 David P Nicolau1,3 1Center for Anti-Infective Research and Development, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA; 2Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; 3Division of Infectious Diseases, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA Background: Clostridium difficile infection ranges from mild to severe prolonged diarrhea with systemic symptoms. Previous studies have assessed the correlation of some disease severity parameters to C. difficile ribotypes. However, certain clinical parameters of interest have not yet been evaluated.Aim: We conducted an exploratory study to evaluate the correlation of C. difficile ribotypes to parameters not assessed previously, notably days to diarrhea resolution (in terms of days to formed stools and days to less than three stools per day), length of hospital stay, 30-day recurrence rates, and 30-day readmission rates. Additional severity parameters evaluated include leukocytosis, serum creatinine, fever, and nausea/vomiting.Methods: Polymerase chain reaction ribotyping was performed on C. difficile isolates from baseline stool samples of 29 patients. A retrospective chart review was conducted to assess the parameters of interest.Results: The most common ribotypes were 027 (38%), 014/020 (21%), and 106/174 (21%). Numerically, 027 ribotype patients required more days to less than three stools per day versus 014/020 and 106/174 ribotype patients (P