Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy

Background. Diarrhea is a common problem in ovarian cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and Clostridium difficile infection has been identified as a cause. The proper diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea are critical to patient care, especially to prevent the serious complications from a severe...

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Main Authors:	Allen, Valerie A., Manahan, Kelly J., Geisler, John P.
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2016
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4802009/

id	pubmed-4802009
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-48020092016-04-05 Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy Allen, Valerie A. Manahan, Kelly J. Geisler, John P. Case Report Background. Diarrhea is a common problem in ovarian cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and Clostridium difficile infection has been identified as a cause. The proper diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea are critical to patient care, especially to prevent the serious complications from a severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Case. We present a heavily pretreated ovarian cancer patient who developed recurrent pseudomembranous colitis while receiving carboplatin chemotherapy. Despite treatment with oral metronidazole for fourteen days, the patient's diarrhea relapsed and colonoscopy revealed extensive pseudomembranous colitis. The infection eventually resolved with the combination of oral vancomycin and metronidazole. Conclusions. Diarrhea is a common problem in patients undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Management requires obtaining the proper diagnosis. Clostridium difficile associated pseudomembranous colitis must be part of the differential diagnosis. Treatment must be sufficient to prevent relapses of the Clostridium difficile infection to prevent serious consequences in an already vulnerable patient population. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2016 2016-03-08 /pmc/articles/PMC4802009/ /pubmed/27051544 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7540302 Text en Copyright © 2016 Valerie A. Allen et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Allen, Valerie A. Manahan, Kelly J. Geisler, John P.
spellingShingle	Allen, Valerie A. Manahan, Kelly J. Geisler, John P. Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy
author_facet	Allen, Valerie A. Manahan, Kelly J. Geisler, John P.
author_sort	Allen, Valerie A.
title	Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy
title_short	Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy
title_full	Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy
title_fullStr	Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy
title_full_unstemmed	Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy
title_sort	recurrent pseudomembranous colitis in an ovarian cancer patient undergoing carboplatin chemotherapy
description	Background. Diarrhea is a common problem in ovarian cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and Clostridium difficile infection has been identified as a cause. The proper diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea are critical to patient care, especially to prevent the serious complications from a severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Case. We present a heavily pretreated ovarian cancer patient who developed recurrent pseudomembranous colitis while receiving carboplatin chemotherapy. Despite treatment with oral metronidazole for fourteen days, the patient's diarrhea relapsed and colonoscopy revealed extensive pseudomembranous colitis. The infection eventually resolved with the combination of oral vancomycin and metronidazole. Conclusions. Diarrhea is a common problem in patients undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. Management requires obtaining the proper diagnosis. Clostridium difficile associated pseudomembranous colitis must be part of the differential diagnosis. Treatment must be sufficient to prevent relapses of the Clostridium difficile infection to prevent serious consequences in an already vulnerable patient population.
publisher	Hindawi Publishing Corporation
publishDate	2016
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4802009/
_version_	1613555728306405376

Recurrent Pseudomembranous Colitis in an Ovarian Cancer Patient Undergoing Carboplatin Chemotherapy

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