ArticleEuropean journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology2018
Molecular-based diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection is associated with reduced mortality.
Article in European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical significance of toxin EIA positivity in patients with suspectedJournal of clinical microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical outcomes of toxin-positive versus toxin-negative/NAAT-positive Clostridioides difficile infection in South Korea: a single-center retrospective cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis and control.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Impact of Nucleic Acid Amplification Test on Clinical Outcomes in Patients withAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Impact of the Introduction of a Two-Step Laboratory Diagnostic Algorithm in the Incidence and Earlier Diagnosis ofMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- The Importance of Abnormal Platelet Count in Patients withJournal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Evaluation of Cycle Threshold, Toxin Concentration, and Clinical Characteristics of Clostridioides difficile Infection in Patients with Discordant Diagnostic Test Results.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2020Article
- The Role of Diagnostic Stewardship inCurrent infectious disease reports · 2020Article
- Predictors of Clostridioides difficile Infection-Related Complications and Treatment Patterns among Nucleic Acid Amplification Test-Positive/Toxin Enzyme Immunoassay-Negative Patients.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2020Article
- Toxin Enzyme Immunoassays Detect Clostridioides difficile Infection With Greater Severity and Higher Recurrence Rates.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2019Article
- Clinical heterogeneity of patients with stool samples testing PCR+/Tox- from a two-step Clostridium difficile diagnostic algorithm.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) might result in overdiagnosis. The clinical outcomes of symptomatic CDI patients diagnosed by PCR remain uncertain. We aimed to determine whether patients whose diagnosis of CDI was based on PCR had different characteristics and clinical outcomes than those diagnosed by toxin immunoassay. Consecutive CDI patients, hospitalized at Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petah Tikva, Israel, between January 2013 and January 2016, were identified retrospectively and included in the study. Diagnosis of CDI was based on PCR or diagnosis by immunoassay for C. difficile toxin. The main outcome was 30- and 90-day all-cause mortality. The PCR group included 165 patients and the immunoassay group included 157 patients. In comparison to the immunoassay group, patients in the PCR group were more likely to be younger, to be independent, to undergo previous abdominal surgery, and to use laxatives. The 30-day mortality rate in the PCR group was significantly lower than that in the immunoassay group, 29/165 (18%) vs 49/157 (31%), respectively; p = 0.028. On multivariate analysis, PCR diagnosis was associated with reduced mortality, OR 0.48 (95% CI 0.26-0.88). PCR-based diagnosis of CDI is associated with reduced all-cause mortality rates. Further studies are needed to determine the management of patients with discrepant immunoassay and PCR diagnosis of CDI.
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