[Probable amebic brain abscess in a homosexual man with an Entamoeba histolytica liver abscess]

A 51-year-old Japanese-Brazilian homosexual man was admitted to a hospital because of fever, headache and right epigastralgia. He had been homosexual for 20 years. An abdominal CT revealed a liver abscess and microscopic examination of the pus of the drainage revealed cystic forms of Entamoeba histolytica. Oral administration of metronidazole 2,250 mg/day was started for amebic liver abscess. He complained of severe throbbing headache, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed a brain mass of approximately 2 cm in diameter in the right parietooccipital lobe. An amebic brain abscess was suspected and he was transferred to our hospital. Continuous oral administration of metronidazole for 49 days instead of invasive procedures gradually improved headache, fever and right epigastralgia. On the follow-up MRIs, the brain mass was gradually encapsulated, reduced its size, and finally disappeared. A diagnosis of amebic brain abscess was made on the basis of coexistent amebic liver abscess, MRI findings and a dramatic effectiveness to metronidazole. One should pay attention to E. Histolytica infection in the differential diagnosis of the abscess of the liver and brain since it has been increasing in Japan in recent years.