Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2017 Sep 26:18:1028-1033.
doi: 10.12659/ajcr.905191.

Klebsiella Pneumoniae Liver Abscess: A Case Series of Six Asian Patients

Katerina G Oikonomou  1 , Myint Aye  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Klebsiella Pneumoniae Liver Abscess: A Case Series of Six Asian Patients

Katerina G Oikonomou et al. Am J Case Rep. .

Abstract

BACKGROUND Liver abscesses represent a serious infection of hepatic parenchyma and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The emergence of a new hypervirulent variant of Klebsiella pneumoniae, which can cause serious infections in the Asian population, is under investigation. We report a case series of six Asian patients hospitalized at our institution from January 2013 to November 2015 for liver abscess due to Klebsiella pneumoniae. CASE REPORT Charts of six Asian patients were retrospectively reviewed. Four patients were male and two were female. The mean age was 53 years (range: 35-64 years). All patients had no known past medical history of immunodeficiency. Three patients had multiple liver abscesses at the time of initial presentation. In five patients, the source of entry of the pathogenic microorganism was unknown and in one patient the suspected source of entry was the gastrointestinal tract. In three patients there was also concomitant Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia. The mean duration of antibiotic treatment was seven weeks and the mean duration of hospital stay was 13.5 days. CONCLUSIONS Liver abscess should always be included in the differential diagnosis in cases of sepsis without obvious source and/or in the clinical scenarios of fever, abdominal pain, and liver lesions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Initial CT abdomen images at the time of liver abscess diagnosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lardière-Deguelte S, Ragot E, Amroun K, et al. Hepatic abscess: Diagnosis and management. J Visc Surg. 2015;152(4):231–33. - PubMed
    1. Nakanishi Y, Kayahara T, Yamashita Y, et al. A case of ruptured giant liver cyst complicated by Candida infection. Nihon Shokakibyo Gakkai Zasshi. 2009;106(7):1056–52. - PubMed
    1. Ali AH, Smalligan RD, Ahmed M, Khasawneh FA. Pyogenic liver abscess and the emergence of Klebsiella as an etiology: A retrospective study. Int J Gen Med. 2013;7:37–32. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meddings L, Myers RP, Hubbard J, et al. A population-based study of pyogenic liver abscesses in the United States: Incidence, mortality, and temporal trends. Am J Gastroenterol. 2010;105(1):117–24. - PubMed
    1. Alvarez Pérez JA, González JJ, Baldonedo RF, et al. Clinical course, treatment, and multivariate analysis of risk factors for pyogenic liver abscess. Am J Surg. 2001;181(2):177–86. - PubMed

Publication types