Reactive arthritis due to Clostridium difficile

A Case Report and Review of the Literature: Reactive Arthritis Caused by Clostridioides difficile ribotype 027

With an annual incidence of 250-300 per 100,000 inhabitants, reactive arthritis is not uncommon. However, the fact that Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) can also lead to this complication is largely unknown. We report on a 69-years-old man who developed reactive arthritis of his right knee joint one week after antibiotic-associated diarrhea with evidence of C. difficile of the hypervirulent ribotype 027. His female partner also became infected with C. difficile ribotype 027, but did not develop reactive arthritis. The further investigation showed that the patient - in contrast to his partner - was HLA-B27 positive and had strong antibody levels against C. difficile. The case history together with the review of 45 other cases described so far shows that C. difficile can also lead to reactive arthritis. C. difficile-associated reactive arthritis (CDARA) is characterized by the fact that patients suffer from diarrhea or colitis after taking antibiotics, toxigenic C. difficile or only the toxins are detectable in the stool and there are no other explanations for the arthritis and diarrhea.

Extraintestinal Clostridioides difficile Infections: Epidemiology in a University Hospital in Hungary and Review of the Literature

Extraintestinal manifestations of Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) are very uncommon, and according to the literature, poor outcomes and a high mortality have been observed among affected individuals. The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence rate of extraintestinal infections caused by C. difficile (ECD) in a tertiary-care university hospital in Hungary. During a 10-year study period, the microbiology laboratory isolated 4129 individual strains of C. difficile; among these, the majority were either from diarrheal fecal samples or from colonic material and only n = 24 (0.58%) were from extraintestinal sources. The 24 extraintestinal C. difficile isolates were recovered from 22 patients (female-to-male ratio: 1, average age: 55.4 years). The isolates in n = 8 patients were obtained from abdominal infections, e.g., appendicitis, rectal abscess or Crohn’s disease. These extraintestinal cases occurred without concomitant diarrhea. In all, but two cases C. difficile was obtained as a part of a polymicrobial flora. Our isolates were frequently toxigenic and mostly belonged to PCR ribotype 027. Resistance to metronidazole, vancomycin, clindamycin and rifampin were 0%, 0%, 20.5% and 9.7%, respectively. The increasing amount of reports of C. difficile extraintestinal infections should be noted, as these infections are characterized by a poor outcome and high mortality rate.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy mimicking a reactive arthritis: a case report and review of the literature

Background

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is a syndrome characterized by abnormal proliferation of skin and periosteal tissues of the extremities. It can be a rare hereditary disease (pachydermoperiostosis) or can be secondary to various diseases, though mostly lung malignancies. Here, we report an unusual clinical presentation of HOA.

Case presentation

A 77-year-old man presented with fever, diarrhea, and an oligoarthritis involving the left knee and the ankles. Since left knee synovial fluid aspiration revealed an aseptic synovitis and Clostridium Difficile toxin was detectable in stool samples, a reactive arthritis secondary to a Clostridium Difficile induced colitis was initially suspected. However, the presence of a worsened digital clubbing and the lack of a good clinical response to steroid therapy led us to perform a radionuclide bone scanning, which revealed HOA. This turned out to be associated with a lepidic predominant lung adenocarcinoma, which was clinically and radiologically difficult to distinguish from a relapse of pneumonia.

Conclusion

Consistent with the literature, HOA tends to have a variable clinical presentation, mimicking that of various rheumatic diseases. This clinical case shows that HOA can present as a presumptive acute reactive arthritis, and it highlights the importance of patient’s follow-up in the differential diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis, especially when a worsened digital clubbing is present.

Invading beyond bounds: extraintestinal Clostridium difficile infection leading to pancreatic and liver abscesses

Clostridium difficile has become a common healthcare-associated infection over the past few years and gained more attention. C. difficile was estimated to cause almost half a million infections in USA in 2011 and 29 000 died within 30 days of the initial diagnosis. Although colitis due to C. difficile is the most common presentation, there have been reported cases of extraintestinal infections. As per our review of literature, this is the third reported case of liver abscess due to the organism.

A bicentre retrospective study of features and outcomes of patients with reactive arthritis

OBJECTIVE

Reactive arthritis (ReA) is a sterile arthritis following an extra-articular infection, usually of the gastrointestinal or genitourinary tract. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence and the clinical and therapeutic characteristics of ReA and to compare them with those of a historical cohort. We hypothesised that improved hygiene together with prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections may have decreased the incidence of ReA.

METHODS

All patients with ReA diagnosed in the University Hospital Centres of Lyon Sud and Besançon from January 2002 to December 2012 were included in the study retrospectively and were compared with ReA patients diagnosed from January 1986 to December 1996 in the same two hospitals. Medical records were reviewed, clinical features, treatments and outcomes were analysed and diagnoses were compared with international diagnostic criteria.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven patients were included between 2002 and 2012 compared with 31 between 1986 and 1996. The overall incidence of ReA in patients hospitalised in the rheumatology department did not change, although the current evolution is more severe with development of chronic disease in the form of more frequent spondyloarthritis. While the incidence of Chlamydiae trachomatis has decreased, new microbes are now found to be involved.

CONCLUSIONS

ReA still exists and its incidence has been stable over the last 30 years. However, ReA currently more often progress to spondyloarthritis. Our study also highlights the need for diagnostic criteria that accurately detect ReA.

[Reactive arthritis due to Clostridium difficile: Report of two cases and literature review]

INTRODUCTION

Reactive arthritis due to Clostridium difficile infection is uncommon.

CASE REPORTS

We report two cases of reactive arthritis associated with C. difficile infection that occurred in a 40-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man. The literature review between 1976 (date of first reported case) and 2016 retrieved 54 observations (including our two cases). Reactive arthritis occurs most frequently in young subjects after a variable time frame according to C. difficile infection, involving one or several articulations. The issue is generally favourable with or without anti-inflammatory treatment.

CONCLUSION

The increasing incidence of C. difficile infection makes more likely the occurrence of this related reactive arthritis. Therefore physicians should consider it in differential diagnosis of bacterial infections capable of causing reactive arthritis.

Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile Infection-Associated Reactive Arthritis in Children: An Underdiagnosed, Potentially Morbid Condition

IMPORTANCE

The incidence of Clostridium difficile infection has increased among children. The epidemiology of pediatric C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis is poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the incidence, recognition, and distinguishing clinical features of pediatric C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis among children with C difficile infection.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

In this cohort and nested case-control study using electronic health records from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2013, across 3 geographically diverse pediatric health care networks, we screened for reactive arthritis among 148 children between ages 2 and 21 years with diagnostic or procedural codes suggesting musculoskeletal disease associated with C difficile diagnosis or positive testing. We identified 26 cases with acute arthritis or tenosynovitis within 4 weeks before to 12 weeks after confirmed C difficile infection with (1) no alternative explanation for arthritis and (2) negative synovial cultures (if obtained). Network-matched C difficile-infected controls without arthritis were randomly selected at the time of cohort member C difficile infections.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Incidence of C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis was calculated based on (1) pediatric source population and (2) children with C difficile infection. Characteristics of cases and controls were compared using conditional logistic regression.

RESULTS

Based on the cases identified within the source population of the 3 hospital networks, we estimated that C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis incidence was 5.0 cases per million person-years (95% CI, 3.0-7.8). Reactive arthritis affected 1.4% of children with C difficile infection yearly (95% CI 0.8%-2.3%). Joint symptoms began a median of 10.5 days after initial gastrointestinal symptoms, often accompanied by fever (n = 15 [58%]) or rash (n = 14 [54%]). Only 35% of cases of C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis were correctly diagnosed by treating health care professionals (range across centers, 0%-64%). Five affected children (19%) were treated for presumed culture-negative septic hip arthritis despite having prior postantibiotic diarrhea and/or other involved joints. Compared with controls, cases of C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis were less likely to have underlying chronic conditions (odds ratio [OR], 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1-0.8). Although all cases had community-onset C difficile infection and fewer comorbidities, they were more likely to be treated in emergency departments and/or hospitalized (OR, 7.1; 95% CI, 1.6-31.7).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

C difficile infection-associated reactive arthritis is an underdiagnosed, potentially morbid reactive arthritis associated with C difficile infection occasionally misdiagnosed as septic arthritis. Given the rising incidence of pediatric C difficile infections, better recognition of its associated reactive arthritis is needed.

Clostridium difficile ribotype 078 cultured from post-surgical non-healing wound in a patient carrying ribotype 014 in the intestinal tract

Extra-intestinal infections caused by Clostridium difficile are rare. The risk of extra-intestinal infections associated with C. difficile may be particularly relevant in environments contaminated with C. difficile spores. This paper describes the case of a non-diarrheic patient colonized with C. difficile ribotype 014 in the intestinal tract who developed a post-surgical wound infection by C. difficile ribotype 078. The infection responded to metronidazole administered first intravenously and then orally. This case indicates that C. difficile may not only be related to diarrheic diseases, but also to infections of non-healing wounds, especially in situations when C. difficile is the only isolated pathogen.

Extraintestinal Clostridium difficile infections: a single-center experience

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the clinical burden of extraintestinal Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) seen at a single institution and to characterize the management and outcomes of these rare infections.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective medical record review was conducted to identify patients with isolation of C difficile from extraintestinal sites from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2013. Medical records were reviewed and data, including demographic characteristics, microbiology, clinical associations, management, and infection outcomes, were abstracted.

RESULTS

Overall, 40 patients with extraintestinal CDI were identified: 25 had abdominopelvic infections, 11 had bloodstream infections, 3 had wound infections, and 1 had pulmonary infection. C difficile was isolated with other organisms in 63% of cases. A total of 85% of infections were nosocomial. Factors associated with extraintestinal CDI included surgical manipulation of the gastrointestinal tract (88%), recent antibiotic exposure (88%), malignant tumors (50%), and proton pump inhibitor use (50%). Diarrhea was present in 18 patients (45%), 12 of whom had C difficile polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive stool samples. All isolates tested were susceptible to metronidazole and piperacillin-tazobactam. Management included both antimicrobial therapy and guided drainage or surgical intervention in all but one patient. The infection-associated mortality rate was 25%, with death a median of 16 days (range, 1-61 days) after isolation of C difficile.

CONCLUSION

Extraintestinal CDI is uncommon and often occurs in patients with surgical manipulation of the gastrointestinal tract and well-recognized risk factors for intestinal CDI. Management of extraintestinal CDI includes both antimicrobial and surgical therapies. Extraintestinal CDI is characterized by poor outcome with high mortality.

Reactive arthritis

Reactive arthritis (ReA) is an immune-mediated seronegative arthritis that belongs to the group of spondyloarthropathies and develops after a gastrointestinal or genitourinary system infection. The condition is considered to be characterized by a triad of symptoms (conjunctivitis, arthritis and urethritis) although a constellation of other manifestations may also be present. ReA is characterized by psoriasiform dermatological manifestations that may resemble those of pustular psoriasis and, similar to guttate psoriasis, is a post-infectious entity. Also, the articular manifestations of the disorder are similar to those of psoriatic arthritis and both conditions show a correlation with HLA-B27. These facts have led several authors to suggest that there is a connection between ReA and psoriasis, listing ReA among the disorders related to psoriasis. However, the pathogenetic mechanism behind the condition is complex and poorly understood. Bacterial antigenicity, the type of host response (i.e. Th1/Th2 imbalance) and various genetic factors (i.e. HLA-B27 etc.) play an important role in the development of the disorder. It is unknown whether all the aforementioned factors are part of a mechanism that could be similar to, or share basic aspects with known psoriasis pathogenesis mechanisms.

Potential role of bacterial infection in autoimmune diseases: a new aspect of molecular mimicry

Molecular mimicry is an attractive mechanism for triggering autoimmunity. In this review, we explore the potential role of evolutionary conserved bacterial proteins in the production of autoantibodies with focus on granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Seven autoantigens characterized in GPA and RA were BLASTed against a bacterial protein database. Of the seven autoantigens, proteinase 3, type II collagen, binding immunoglobulin protein, glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, α-enolase, and heterogeneous nuclear ribonuclear protein have well-conserved bacterial orthologs. Importantly, those bacterial orthologs are also found in human-associated bacteria. The wide distribution of the highly conserved stress proteins or enzymes among the members of the normal flora and common infectious microorganisms raises a new question on how cross-reactive autoantibodies are not produced during the immune response to these bacteria in most healthy people. Understanding the mechanisms that deselect auto-reactive B cell clones during the germinal center reaction to homologous foreign antigens may provide a novel strategy to treat autoimmune diseases.