Is Fecal Leukocyte Test a good predictor of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea?

doi:10.1186/1476-0711-5-9

Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials

Volume 5

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Sheth A
Banks DE

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Is Fecal Leukocyte Test a good predictor of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea?

Savio Reddymasu , Ankur Sheth and Daniel E Banks

Department of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA, USA

author email corresponding author email

Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials 2006, 5:9doi:10.1186/1476-0711-5-9


Published:	19 April 2006

Abstract

Background

Fecal leukocyte test (FLT) is widely used to screen for invasive diarrheas including C. difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD), which account for more than 25 % of all antibiotic associated diarrhea.

Method

263 stool samples from patients with suspected CDAD were studied simultaneously for fecal leukocyte test (FLT) and Clostridium difficile toxin assay (CDTA). FLT was performed by the Giemsa technique and CDTA was performed by enzyme immuno assay (EIA).

Results

Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of FLT as compared to CDTA were 30%, 74.9%, 13.2% and 89.3% respectively.

Conclusion

Considering the poor sensitivity of FLT, and the comparable cost and time of obtaining a CDTA at our institution, we conclude that FLT is not a good screening test for CDAD. Possible reasons for FLT being a poor predictor of CDTA are discussed.