Pyogenic liver abscesses in a child spreading to pulmonary and subcutaneous tissues: case report

Pyogenic liver abscess is a rare and life-threatening disease in children. Our case is noteworthy because of the rapid advancement of liver abscesses without any other systemic disorder. A 16-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital with fatigue, pallor, weight loss and high fever. In physical examination a fluctuating mass was observed under the scapular area and hepatosplenomegaly was found. In computed tomography, three septated cystic lesions which looked like abscesses were demonstrated in the liver. The abscess was drained through percutaneous route. Right pleural empyema with clinical features of adult respiratory distress syndrome appeared after the first day of treatment. Bacteroides sp. was isolated from pus. On the twentieth day of the therapy, control abdominal computed tomography revealed two new abscesses in the liver. They were drained and the antibiotic therapy was continued with ticarcillin-clavulanate, fluconazole and levofloxacin. By the end of the first week of the therapy, the fever of the patient had abated. This therapy was continued for four weeks; 15 days after the end of the therapy there was prominent healing of the liver lesions with only one necrotic remnant 2 cm in diameter on abdominal computed tomography.