A note on clinical presentations of amebic liver abscess: an overview from 62 Thai patients

A retrospective case review was carried out for 62 Thai patients who had been diagnosed with amebic liver abscess. Clinical information was collected, including symptoms and signs, location and number of abscesses. The Anti HIV serology laboratory investigation was also reviewed.According to our study, the common clinical symptoms and signs are abdominal pain (85.5 %), fever and chills (74.2 %), and abdominal tenderness (69.4 %). The location of the abscess was predominantly in the right lobe (74.2 %), and most of patients had a single abscess (77.4 %). Similar trends in clinical presentations were observed in both Anti HIV seropositive and Anti HIV seronegative subjects.In conclusion, the clinical presentations of our amebic liver abscess patients were similar to those in previous reports. A similarity to those in the pyogenic liver abscess patients can be observed. Nevertheless, we could not detect important significant differences in the clinical presentations between Anti HIV seropositive and Anti HIV seronegative groups of patients.Significant differences exist in the prevalence of most gastroenterological emergencies in tropical countries compared with temperate countries [1]. Both ethnic and environmental, often clearly defined geographically, factors are relevant. Amebiasis is a widespread parasitic disease caused by Entamoeba histolytica. This protozoan organism is the third leading parasitic cause of death in the developing world and is an important health risk to travelers in endemic areas [2]. Amebiasis most commonly results in asymptomatic colonization of the gastrointestinal tract, but some patients may develop intestinal invasive disease or extraintestinal disease. The most common extraintestinal manifestation is that of a liver abscess [2]. This infection is common throughout the world and can be associated with life-threatening consequences [2-5].Concerning the amebic liver abscess, the pathogenic organism is carried through the blood to the liver w