Loading...
As Clostridium difficile–associated colitis (CDC) becomes increasingly widespread and ominous, experts are realizing how little evidence supports many common habits of diagnosis and treatment — particularly the tendency to test multiple stool samples to achieve a diagnosis.
Researchers examined records of 3712 patients with suspected CDC who were admitted to a single large U.S. teaching hospital during 3.5 years; 9178 stool samples were tested for toxins A and B with a common commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) that has a manufacturer's reported sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 100%. Two different analyses indicated that about 90% of confirmed CDC cases were identified with the first stool specimen, 8% with the second, and only 2% with …