In North America and Europe, the binary toxin positive Clostridium difficile strains of the ribotypes 027 and 078 have been associated with death, toxic megacolon and other adverse outcomes. Following an increase in C. difficile infections (CDIs) in Queensland, a prevalence study involving 175 hospitals was undertaken in early 2012, identifying 168 cases of CDI over a 2 month period. Patient de...

Clostridium difficile is a formidable nosocomial and community-acquired pathogen, causing clinical presentations ranging from asymptomatic colonization to self-limiting diarrhea to toxic megacolon and fulminant colitis. Since the early 2000s, the incidence of C. difficile disease has increased dramatically, and this is thought to be due to the emergence of new strain types. For many years, the ...

BACKGROUND The recommended treatment for severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is oral vancomycin alone. Combination therapy with metronidazole is only recommended in cases complicated by shock, ileus, or toxic megacolon. However, patients with severe infection are often treated with combination therapy despite a lack of data supporting this practice. AIM To evaluate differences in out...

The English spotting coat color locus in rabbits, also known as Dominant white spotting locus, is determined by an incompletely dominant allele (En). Rabbits homozygous for the recessive wild-type allele (en/en) are self-colored, heterozygous En/en rabbits are normally spotted, and homozygous En/En animals are almost completely white. Compared to vital en/en and En/en rabbits, En/En animals are...

Hirschsprung's disease is the malformation of the hindgut characterised by the absence of intramural ganglion cells in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses and manifested by megacolon. Congenital character of this disease stipulates its belonging in general to the scope of activity of the pediatric clinics. Thanks to the progress of the pediatricians problems of diagnosis and treatment of Hirs...

Gastrointestinal Kaposi's sarcoma is a well described and usually asymptomatic manifestation of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. We report a patient who had extensive colonic Kaposi's sarcoma and presented with an ulcerative colitis like illness. Total colectomy was subsequently required as an emergency procedure for toxic megacolon. The patient remains well on maintenance interferon th...

We evaluated the presence and distribution of Trypanosoma cruzi DNA in a mummy presenting with megacolon that was dated as approximately 560 +/- 40 years old. The mummy was from the Peruaçu Valley in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. All samples were positive for T. cruzi minicircle DNA, demonstrating the presence and broad dissemination of the parasite in this body. From one sample, a mini-ex...

The outcome in 40 patients who underwent colectomy for idiopathic megacolon and megarectum over an 18 year period was evaluated. All patients had a radiologically dilated bowel and a bowel frequency of less than two per week. Twenty two patients had a caecorectal anastomosis, 11 had an ileorectal anastomosis (including one with a previous caecorectal anastomosis and four with a previous sigmoid...

Introduction: The present report describes a case of a giant sigmoid volvulus (SV) where acute respiratory distress was associated with toxic megacolon. Clinical features, surgical treatment and postoperative course deserved our attention and discussion. Presentation of Case: A 67-year-old man with psychiatric disturbances was admitted to our Department with severe respiratory distress due to a...