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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Cefoperazone-treated Mouse Model of Clinically-relevant Clostridium difficile Strain R20291
Published on: December 10, 2016
Metronidazole-induced encephalopathy after prolonged metronidazole course for treatment of C. difficile colitis
Mark S Godfrey1, Arkadiy Finn2, Hadeel Zainah3
1Department of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Abstract:
A 65-year-old woman with a diagnosis of Clostridium difficile colitis undergoing prolonged treatment with metronidazole was admitted to hospital for altered mentation, slurred speech and weakness. She was diagnosed with metronidazole-induced encephalopathy, confirmed with brain MRI and improved when the offending agent was removed. This case report highlights encephalopathy as a complication of prolonged metronidazole treatment, which has become more common in clinical practice for the treatment of C. difficile infection.
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