Application of the ATLAS score for evaluating the severity of Clostridium difficile infection in teaching hospitals in Mexico

BACKGROUND: For clinicians, a practical bedside tool for severity assessment and prognosis of patients with Clostridium difficile infection is a highly desirable unmet medical need. SETTING: Two general teaching hospitals in northeast Mexico. POPULATION: Adult patients with C. difficile infection. METHODS: Prospective observational study. RESULTS: Patients included had a median of 48 years of age, 54% of male gender and an average of 24.3 days length of hospital stay. Third generation cephalosporins were the antibiotics most commonly used prior to C. difficile infection diagnosis. Patients diagnosed with C. difficile infection had a median ATLAS score of 4 and 56.7% of the subjects had a score between 4 and 7 points. Patients with a score of 8 through 10 points had 100% mortality. CONCLUSION: The ATLAS score is a potentially useful tool for the routine evaluation of patients at the time of C. difficile infection diagnosis. At 30 days post-diagnosis, patients with a score of ≤3 points had 100% survival while all of those with scores ≥8 died. Patients with scores between 4 and 7 points had a greater probability of colectomy with an overall cure rate of 70.1%.