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Noninfective pseudomembranous colitis following antibiotic therapy

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Summary

A patient is described who developed severe diarrhea with sigmoidoscopic, histologic, and radiologic evidence of pseudomembranous colitis. No pathogenic organisms were found in the feces and there was a dramatic response when she was treated by withdrawal of antibiotics and institution of corticosteroid therapy. Cases have been collected from the literature to show that pseudomembranous enterocolitis following antibiotic therapy can occur in the absence of superimposed infection. This evidence and the rapid cure of our patient with corticosteroids suggests that the disorder may be due in certain instances to a direct deleterious effect of antibiotics on intestinal mucosa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, England

    L. S. Valberg M.D. & S. C. Truelove M.D.

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  1. L. S. Valberg M.D.
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  2. S. C. Truelove M.D.
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Valberg, L.S., Truelove, S.C. Noninfective pseudomembranous colitis following antibiotic therapy. Digest Dis Sci 5, 728–738 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02231114

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02231114

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