| Abscess
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Etiology
•Liver abscess can result from infections or penetrating
injuries to the liver.
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Pathogenesis
•As with abscess elsewhere, an abscess of the liver
is a circumscribed lesion with central liquefactive
necrosis containing organisms and a surrounding area of hyperemia and
intense inflammation.,
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Epidemiology
•With improved care of intra-abdominal sepsis, pyogenic abscesses of the liver are
uncommon.
•In developing countries, they are somewhat more common, usually as a result of parasitic
infections.
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General Gross Description
•When the infection spreads to the liver through the
vascular route, abscesses can be multiple.
•More commonly, when they result from spread of
infection from elsewhere, abscesses are solitary.
•A common lesion in developing countries is an amebic
liver abscess; the ameba are carried from the colon.
•Amebic liver abscesses can be very large and have a
typical chocolate color and consistency.
•They are also referred to an "anchovy paste" abscesses.
•Examples:
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General Microscopic Description
•Histologically, the lesions are characterized by a
central of liquefactive necrosis with degenerating
and necrotic liver cells and inflammatory cells.
•Examples:
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Clinical Correlation
•While abscesses can be managed conservatively, most
often drainage is required.
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References
• Cotran RS, Kumar V, Robbins SL: Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders, 1994, pp. 856
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| Abscess
| | Synopsis by: T.V.Rajan, M.D., Ph.D. (T56000M41740)[504]
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