Causative agents of liver abscess in HIV-seropositive patients: a 10-year case series in Thai hospitalized patients

Abstract

Liver abscess is an important tropical gastrointestinal disorder. HIV seropositive patients show relative immunosuppression and are more susceptible to infection, including liver abscess. This retrospective case review was made on 23 patients who were diagnosed as HIV seropositive with liver abscess in Bangkok, Thailand. We demonstrated the high rate of amoebic liver abscess in our series (17.4%) from fresh smear with five cases of tuberculosis and one case of Nocardosis. The rates of positive bacterial culture were 17.4% from blood and 47.8% from pus. Gram-negative aerobes were the major abscess pathogens in our series. Among Gram-negative aerobes, Klebsiella was the most significant microorganism, followed by Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.