Korean J Med.  2015 Jun;88(6):663-671. 10.3904/kjm.2015.88.6.663.

Pyogenic Liver Abscess: Changes in Clinical Features over the Last 10 Years

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Konyang University Hospital, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea. green740@naver.com

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
A pyogenic liver abscess is an acute bacterial infection that can potentially lead to life-threatening sepsis. This study examined the clinical features and changing trends of pyogenic liver abscess over the last 10 years.
METHODS
We investigated patient characteristics, laboratory findings, blood and abscess culture results, location and characteristics of the abscess, and treatment modality in the medical records of 146 patients. We divided them into three groups by period: period 1, 23 patients in 2002-2003; period 2, 46 patients in 2007-2008; and period 3, 77 patients in 2012-2013.
RESULTS
The mean patient age was 64.3 +/- 15.1 years and 87 of the 146 patients were male (59.6%). Period 2 had a higher prevalence of chronic alcoholics (30.4% vs. 10.4%) and lower prevalence of fever and chills (73.9% vs. 92.2%) compared with period 3. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most commonly cultured bacteria and the microbiological findings did not differ among the three periods. Pyogenic liver abscesses were more common in the right liver. The lengths of hospital stay and treatment modalities were similar in all three periods.
CONCLUSIONS
Although there were slight differences in symptoms among the periods, there were no changes in the liver abscess characteristics, i.e., location, size, and culture results. As there were no changes, the treatment strategy also did not change. We should continue to investigate the clinical features of liver abscess.

Keyword

Liver abscess; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Drainage

MeSH Terms

Abscess
Alcoholics
Bacteria
Bacterial Infections
Chills
Drainage
Fever
Humans
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Length of Stay
Liver
Liver Abscess
Liver Abscess, Pyogenic*
Male
Medical Records
Prevalence
Sepsis
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