Background: Faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) is a highly effective therapy for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) with cure rates ranging between 85 and 92%. The FMT role for primary Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) has yet to be settled because of limited data and small-sample studies presented in the current literature. Our study goals were to report the risk factors and the risk of recurrence after FMT for each CDI episode (first, second, and third) and to explore if there is a role of FMT in primary severe CDI.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to analyze the clinical characteristics and the outcomes of 96 FMT patients with a prior 10 day course of antibiotic treatment in the medical records, of which 71 patients with recurrent CDI and 25 patients with a primary CDI.
Results: The overall primary cure rate in our study was 88.5% and the primary cure rate for the severe forms was 85.7%. The data analysis revealed 5.25%, 15.15%, and 27.3% FMT recurrence rates for primary, secondary, and tertiary severe CDI. The risk of recurrence was significantly associated with FMT after the second and the third CDI severe episodes (p < 0.05), but not with FMT after the first severe CDI episode.
Conclusions: This study brings new data in supporting the FMT role in CDI treatment, including the primary severe CDI, however, further prospective and controlled studies on larger cohorts should be performed in this respect.
Keywords: Clostridioides difficile; fecal microbiota transplant; primary infection; recurrence.