This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Gastrointestinal/ Upper Foregut  • Computed Tomography  • Alert me on articles by topic

Corresponding author: Jacques P. Heppell, MD, Department of Surgery, Mayo Clinic, 13400 E Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259 (e-mail: heppell.jacques@mayo.edu).

Arch Surg. 2004;139:566.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Answer: Pseudomembranous Enterocolitis

Figure 1. Computed tomographic scan of the abdomen shows diffusely edematous bowel, hyperemic mucosa, and ascites.

Figure appears in full text version. Figure 1.

Figure 2. Computed tomographic scan of the abdomen shows portal venous air.

Figure appears in full text version. Figure 2.

Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive obligate anaerobe that produces 2 toxins: an enterotoxin (toxin A) and a cytotoxin (toxin B). Animal studies¹ demonstrate that both toxins are necessary for the clinical picture of antibiotic-associated colitis.

The presentation varies from an asymptomatic person who is a carrier to the patient with fulminate colitis. Clostridium difficile exists in an asymptomatic carrier state in approximately 3% of adults without evidence of toxin production.²

The possible causes for C difficile colitis include antibiotic therapy, human immunodeficiency virus infection, candidiasis, malignancy, chemotherapy, malnutrition, intestinal obstruction, decubitus ulcer, renal failure, and interventional procedures.³ The stool assay for cytotoxin is the most accurate method of diagnosis and has a sensitivity of 67% to . . . [Full Text of this Article]