Polymicrobial septicemia withClostridium difficile in acute diverticulitis

A case is reported of a patient without previous gastrointestinal symptoms, who presented with polymicrobial septicemia caused byEscherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Clostridium difficile andBacteroides vulgatus. Septicemia occurred during acute diverticulitis. A strain ofClostridium difficile, which was of the same serogroup C as the blood culture isolate and also produced toxin, was recovered from the stools, but the pathogenic role of this organism in the gastrointestinal symptomatology was not clearly established. Other reported cases ofClostridium difficile septicemia are also reviewed.