Pyogenic liver abscess: multivariate analysis of risk factors

Seventy-three patients with pyogenic liver abscess during the year 1978-1988 were studied in the Kaohsiung Medical College Hospital. The overall mortality rate was 19.2% in this study. By using univariate analysis, it was revealed that clinical jaundice, pleural effusion, bilobar abscess, profound hypoalbuminemia (less than 2.5 g/dl), hyperbilirubinemia (less than 2 mg/dl), elevated level of serum AST (greater than 100 IU/L), alkaline phosphatase (greater than 150 IU/L), and marked leukocytosis (greater than 20,000 mm3) were associated with a higher mortality rate. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis detected only 3 factors of marked leukocytosis (greater than 20,000 mm3), profound hypoalbuminemia (less than 2.5 g/dl), and presence of pleural effusion with independent significance in predicting mortality. Meanwhile, it was also revealed that the laboratory data could not predict a risk factor to mortality unless they became markedly abnormal.