Infecção por Clostridium difficile em pacientes com doença inflamatória intestinal: aspectos epidemiológicos, fatores associados e evolução clínica

Abstract

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises a group of diseases of multifactorial etiology, characterized by chronic and progressive inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, consisting mainly of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive, spore-producing rod that is ubiquitous in nature and is an important cause of diarrhea associated with the use of antimicrobials and in immunocompromised patients. The literature has reported a higher occurrence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in patients with IBD, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence, epidemiological aspects and clinical evolution of CDI in outpatients with recurrent IBD. Methods: In this prospective longitudinal study, conducted between October 2013 and July 2016, 120 patients with IBD (55% with colitis flare) and 40 non-IBD controls were evaluated for CDI by searching for toxins A and B in feces fresh by ELISA. All patients with CDI were treated with oral vancomycin and followed up for an additional six months. Multivariate regression was performed to identify predictors of CDI. Results: The proportion of patients with CDI was significantly higher in patients with active IBD than in those with IBD in remission or in non-IBD controls (28.8% vs. 5.6% vs. 0%, respectively, p = 0.001). Females (OR = 1.39, 95% CI, 1.13-17.18), younger age (OR = 0.77, 95% CI, 0.65-0.92), steroid treatment (OR = 7.42, 95% CI, 5.17-40.20) and infliximab therapy (OR = 2.97, 95% CI, 1.99-24.63) were independently associated with CDI. There was a dose-related increase in odds of having CDI in patients using prednisone. All patients treated with vancomycin responded to therapy, but 21% had recurrent CDI and 16% were hospitalized. Neither colectomy nor mortality was noticed.Conclusions: CDI is a highly concurrent condition in outpatients IBD with colitis flare. Females, younger age, infliximab therapy, and steroid use were independently associated with the cooccurrence of IBD. Most patients with CDI had mild to moderate disease and vancomycin treatment was very effective, seeming to reduce the risk of serious complications related to CDI.