Liver abscess rupture into the chest wall with multi-localized pleural effusion

Abstract

ABSTRACT Amoebic liver abscess (ALA) is a serious but readily treatable form of hepatic infection. It is a tropical disease with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Although most amoebiasis cases are asymptomatic, dysentery and invasive extraintestinal diseases can occur. ALA is the most common manifestation of invasive amoebiasis; however, other organs can also be involved, including the pleuropulmonary, cardiac, cerebral, renal, genitourinary, peritoneal, and cutaneous sites. In developed countries, amoebiasis primarily affects those who have traveled to or migrated from endemic regions, men who have sex with men, and immunosuppressed or institutionalized individuals. Here, we report a case of a patient with extraintestinal amoebic lesions complicated by chest rupture. A 22yearold male from India presented to the emergency department with a cough, fever, weight loss, hemoptysis, chest pain, and diarrhea. He was diagnosed with a liver abscess that ruptured into the chest with multiloculated pleural effusion.