Pseudomembranous colitis

Background

• Endoscopic finding of elevated yellow-white nodules or plaques that form pseudomembranes on the colonic mucosa

Etiologies

Infectious

• Bacterial
  • Clostridioides difficile, the most common association by far
  • Clostridium ramosum
  • Escherichia coli O157:H7
  • Klebsiella oxytoca
  • Plesiomonas shigelloides
  • Salmonella enterica
  • Shigella
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Yersinia enterocolitica
• Parasitic
  • Entamoeba histolytica
  • Schistosoma mansoni
  • Strongyloides stercoralis
• Viral
  • Cytomegalovirus

Non-Infectious

• Non-infectious colitis
  • Behçet disease
  • Collagenous colitis
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Ischemic colitis
• Medications
  • Alosetron
  • Cisplatin
  • Cocaine
  • Cyclosporine A
  • Dextroamphetamine
  • Docetaxel
  • 5-fluorouracil
  • Gold
  • Gluteraldehyde
  • NSAIDs
  • Paraquat

Further Reading

• Pseudomembranous colitis. Dis Mon. 2015 May;61(5):181-206. doi: 10.1016/j.disamonth.2015.01.006. PMID: 25769243; PMCID: PMC4402243.