Purpose: Demonstrating the importance and necessity of CT for the diagnosis and treatment of liver abscess due to various etiologies.
Material & methods: Our cohort included 21 patients who were diagnosed with liver abscess using IV and oral contrast enhanced CT scan between 2015 and 2017 at Soroka University Medical Center. Data regarding the etiology and abscess characteristics was collected.
Results: The most common location of abscesses was the right lobe with segments VII and VIII being the most prevalent segments involved. Most of the patients (61%) had multiple small abscesses while only few had a single abscess. Pleural reactive effusion was identified in a minority of patients (23%) whereas more than half of the patients had some amount of free abdominal fluid (71%). The most common etiology was underlining gallstone disease, while a minority of patients had other etiologies such as underlying malignancy or appendicitis complications.
Conclusion: Imaging in general and CT specifically have a pivotal role in both the work-up and the treatment of patients with liver abscess.
