Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 23, 2025

A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment
Published on: May 25, 2017
Clinical characteristics and outcomes of Clostridioides difficile infection in the intensive care unit: a KASID
J E Baek1, I H Choi1, Y W Cho1
1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Despite the growing clinical and economic burden of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), data on CDI in the intensive care unit (ICU) in the Asia-Pacific region are lacking.
Methods:
This retrospective study analysed 191 patients who were treated with CDI in the ICUs of three hospitals in South Korea from January 2017 to May 2021. Backward-stepwise multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors influencing the treatment response and mortality.
Results:
Fifty-eight patients (30.4%) were considered immunocompromised. The mean Charlson comorbidity index was 5.65 ± 2.39 (10-year survival rate: 21%), the APACHE II score was 20.86 ± 7.78 (mortality rate: 40%), the ATLAS score was 5.45 ± 1.59 (cure rate: 75%), and the SOFA score was 7.97 ± 4.03 (mortality rate: 21.5%). Fifty-eight (30.4%) of the CDI cases were severe and 40 (20.9%) were fulminant. Oral vancomycin or oral metronidazole was the most frequently first-line treatments (N = 57; 32.6%). The 10-day response rate was 59.7% and the eight-week overall mortality rate was 41.4%. Fulminant CDI (OR 0.230; 95% CI 0.085-0.623) and each one-unit increment in the SOFA score (OR 0.848; 95% CI 0.759-0.947) were associated with treatment failure. High APACHE II (OR 0.355; 95% CI 0.143-0.880) and SOFA (OR 0.164; 95% CI 0.061-0.441) scores were associated with higher mortality.
Conclusions:
High-risk patients in the ICU had a higher mortality rate and a lower cure rate of CDI. Further research is required to provide more accurate prediction scoring systems and better clinical outcomes.
Related Concept Videos
Pneumonia III: Complications and Assessment
Healthcare Associated Infections I: Iatrogenic, Exogenic and Endogenic
HAIs significantly increase the cost of health care. Extended stays in healthcare institutions, increased disability, increased costs of medications, including specialized antibiotics, and prolonged recovery times add to the patient's expenses and the healthcare institution and funding bodies.
Urinary Tract Infection III: Diagnostic Studies and Interprofessional Care
Healthcare Associated Infections II: Preventive Measures
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...
Inflammatory Bowel Disease II: Crohn's Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease, commonly known as IBD, refers to a collection of disorders that lead to persistent inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The two types of IBD are ulcerative colitis, which impacts the colon, and Crohn's disease, which can involve any part of the gastrointestinal segment.
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a chronic, systemic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that predominantly affects the gastrointestinal tract. It is marked by...
Irritable Bowel Syndrome II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Evaluation
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is classified into subtypes based on the predominant bowel habits as determined by the Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS). The subtypes are:

