It could take months to review the deaths of at least 18 patients at a hospital in Sault Ste. Marie who contracted C. difficile, says the regional coroner for northwestern Ontario.

More than one coroner will review records on the intestinal bacteria, Dr. David Legge said.

The analysis will include reviewing medical charts and gathering information from autopsies on some of the more recently deceased.

Determining whether the bacteria played a role in each death is going to be difficult because the patients were all elderly with several chronic disorders, Legge said.

The information will be valuable to the families of the people who died, as well as to staff who cared for the patients, he said.

Since June 1, there have been 69 cases of C. difficile at the hospital, said Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease consultant with Toronto's University Health Network who is helping to manage the outbreak.

In an average year, the hospital has between 15 and 25 cases.

Information from the review may also be shared with other health units in the province.