Faculty Collaboration Database

Efficacy of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Clostridium difficile Infection in Children. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2020 Mar;18(3):612-619.e1

Date

04/23/2019

Pubmed ID

31009795

Pubmed Central ID

PMC7549313

DOI

10.1016/j.cgh.2019.04.037

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85079227919 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   103 Citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is commonly used to treat Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). CDI is an increasing cause of diarrheal illness in pediatric patients, but the effects of FMT have not been well studied in children. We performed a multi-center retrospective cohort study of pediatric and young adult patients to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and factors associated with a successful FMT for the treatment of CDI.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 372 patients, 11 months to 23 years old, who underwent FMT at 18 pediatric centers, from February 1, 2004, to February 28, 2017; 2-month outcome data were available from 335 patients. Successful FMT was defined as no recurrence of CDI in the 2 months following FMT. We performed stepwise logistic regression to identify factors associated with successful FMT.

RESULTS: Of 335 patients who underwent FMT and were followed for 2 months or more, 271 (81%) had a successful outcome following a single FMT and 86.6% had a successful outcome following a first or repeated FMT. Patients who received FMT with fresh donor stool (odds ratio [OR], 2.66; 95% CI, 1.39-5.08), underwent FMT via colonoscopy (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.26-4.61), did not have a feeding tube (OR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.05-4.11), or had 1 less episode of CDI before FMT (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.39) had increased odds for successful FMT. Seventeen patients (4.7%) had a severe adverse event during the 3-month follow-up period, including 10 hospitalizations.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings from a large multi-center retrospective cohort, FMT is effective and safe for the treatment of CDI in children and young adults. Further studies are required to optimize the timing and method of FMT for pediatric patients-factors associated with success differ from those of adult patients.

Author List

Nicholson MR, Mitchell PD, Alexander E, Ballal S, Bartlett M, Becker P, Davidovics Z, Docktor M, Dole M, Felix G, Gisser J, Hourigan SK, Jensen MK, Kaplan JL, Kelsen J, Kennedy M, Khanna S, Knackstedt E, Leier M, Lewis J, Lodarek A, Michail S, Oliva-Hemker M, Patton T, Queliza K, Russell GH, Singh N, Solomon A, Suskind DL, Werlin S, Kellermayer R, Kahn SA

Author

Steven L. Werlin MD Emeritus Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Child
Clostridium Infections
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation
Feces
Humans
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Treatment Outcome
Young Adult