Proper diagnosis as a value add in fecal matter transplant therapies
From Natalie Grover on Make room for poop transplants, even if a stool-based therapy is eventually approved — insist doctors and patients in FDA hearing
Sahil Khanna, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic who has consulted with several FMT developers, suggested that out of the 300 to 400 patients who are referred to him for FMT annually, about 25% are misdiagnosed. “I can count the number of times I have been referred a patient who has received fecal transplantation and the clinical notes say this patient has received an ‘FDA-approved’ stool bank-obtained fecal transplant product for the management of recurrence C. diff, and the symptoms recurred,” he said. “We then figured it out this patient actually had irritable bowel syndrome.”
