Left lobe amoebic liver abscess

Abstract

For reasons which are not quite clear amoebic liver abscesses in the left lobe are relatively uncommon. On account of the lesser bulk of the left lobe, and the potentially greater space under the left hemidiaphragm, expansive lesions within it remain less obtrusive than corresponding lesions in the right. Sixteen such cases are analysed and five distinct modes of clinical presentation have been found. Eight of the patients presented late with perforation into either the peritoneal or pleural cavities. In seven of eight remaining cases, an abdominal mass suggestive of a left lobe lesion was present. Anaemia, leucocytosis and a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate were usually present, and in the five cases seen in the last year a positive reaction was obtained to the indirect fluorescent antibody test. Confirmatory radiological features were present only in advanced cases.