PSEUDOMEMBRANEOUS CLOSTRIDIUM AFTER AUTOLOGOUS BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) pseudomembraneous colitis was dia gnosed in a 13-year-old boy with Hodgkin's disease 3 months after auto logous bone marrow transplantation. Hematopoiesis was fully reconstitu ted at the time, C. difficile infection occurred after gall bladder em pyema had been treated conservatively with i.v. antibiotics and prophy lactic 4-week administration of oral amoxicillin, C. difficile colitis was diagnosed early and intensive supportive therapy combined with ad ministration of i.v. and subsequently oral vancomycin therapy failed, It is a phenomenon rarely seen and successful eradication of the clost ridium infection was only achieved by a combination of higher dose van comycin with metronidazole, During the post-colitis recovery the patie nt experienced a relapse of Hodgkin's disease and died following furth er surgical intervention 137 days post-transplantation.