Clinical characteristics of cytomegalovirus colitis: a 15-year experience from a tertiary reference center

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis is considered rare in immunocompetent patients.

The predictors of mortality and the differences between immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients with this disease remain unknown. Thus, the aim of this retrospective cohort study was to clarify these issues.

We enrolled all patients who were histologically diagnosed with CMV colitis between April 2002 and December 2016 in the Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups: immunocompetent and immunocompromised, and the differences between them were analyzed to develop in-hospital mortality predictors.

A total of 69 patients (42, immunocompetent; 27, immunocompromised) were enrolled. The most common symptoms were melena in the immunocompetent group and diarrhea in the immunocompromised group. The in-hospital mortality rate showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (26.2% vs 25.9%, P=0.981). Early diagnosis was the only significant independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.075, 95% CI 1.005-1.149, P=0.035). The cutoff of diagnostic timing was 9 days from admission, derived from the receiver operating characteristic curve using the Youden index.

CMV colitis in immunocompetent patients is markedly more common and fatal than has generally been acknowledged. Being alert to different ways in which this disease can present itself will enable early diagnosis and significantly reduce mortality.