Fecal Microbial Transplant
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The UCLA digestive diseases team cares for routine and complex gastrointestinal problems. To learn more about our services, call .
The divisions of infectious diseases and digestive diseases offer fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) for patients with refractory Clostridium difficile infections.
Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection has become a major challenge for patients and clinicians. Recurrence of infection after conventional treatment with standard antibiotics is common. FMT is an alternative treatment for recurrent C. difficile infection. Fecal microbial transplantation involves infusing processed stool from a healthy, pre-screened donor into the GI tract of a patient with C. difficile infection, typically by colonoscopy. Recently published studies, including one in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), indicate that this procedure is extremely effective for treating recurrent C. difficile infection. The NEJM study was a randomized controlled trial comparing FMT to conventional antibiotic therapy. The study was halted early after interim analysis demonstrated that FMT was significantly more effective than vancomycin.
To be eligible, patients must have documented C. difficle infection that has nto responded to two courses of appropriate conventional therapy. Patients who are pregnant, have toxic megacolon, or a medical condition that places the patient at unacceptably high risk for the procedure are ineligible.
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