HEPATIC ACTINOMYCOSIS : A CASE REPORT

Hicham Kachkach, Youssef Saydi, Khalid Rabbani, Youssef Narjis, Abdelouahed Louzi, Ridouan Benomar Benelkhaiat and Benasser Finech. Departement of general surgery, CHU Mohamed VI, Marrakech. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History

Primary hepatic actinomycosis is one of the chronic abscess-forming infections of the liver. Its diagnosis is frequently delayed due to its indolent course and nonspecific clinical and radiological manifestations. This article reports a 23 years old man presented with a 2-week history of right upper quadrant pain with fever. Ultrasonography and abdominal CT scan sowed a voluminous multilocular lesion between IV, V, VI liver segments. The postoperative pathological examination found multifocal actinomycetes in the hepatic parenchyma. Large doses of sodium penicillin were administered postoperatively as anti-infective therapy. This case suggests that primary hepatic actinomycosis should be considered as one of the extensive causes for liver abscess.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Actinomycosis is a chronic suppurative granulomatous infection caused by anaerobic or microaerophilic bacteria, primarily from the genus Actinomyces. The most common pathogenic specie in humans is Actinomyces israelli [1]. It normally colonizes the mouth, gastrointestinal tract, and female genital tract. Any site of body can be affected by actinomycosis, but hepatic involvement is rare. Hepatic actinomycosis is usually secondary to other intraabdominal infections, and primary hepatic actinomycosis only accounts for 5% of all actinomycosis cases [2]. Diagnosis of hepatic actinomycosis is frequently missed because of its indolent and slowly progressive characters, and nonspecific clinical and radiologic manifestations treatment consist of penicillin and drainage of the abscesses.
An abdominal ultrasound show hepatomegaly (24cm at medclavicular line) and identified in segment V, VI, and VIII of the liver a multilocular-hypoechoic, heterogeneous with partially undefined limits. CT scan showed a voluminous multilocular lesion between IV, V, VI liver segments with Clair limits (183 *146*90 mm). These images were suggestive of surinfected hydatic cyst or liver abscess (figure 1).
Imaging findings are non-specific and often mimic other diseases such as benign lesions (cystic lesions, pyogenic abscesses, amebiasis or echinococcosis), or malignant lesions (primary or secondary tumor) [2]. Kanellopoulou et al reported in their review of 57 cases of hepatic actinomycosis that the disease manifested as a single abscess/mass in two-thirds of the cases, and as multiple hepatic lesions in the remaining one-third [5] Microbiologic and pathologic studies are essential for a diagnosis of actinomycosis. The ultimate diagnosis is based on blood cultures, microscopy (percutaneous biopsy, laparoscopic or surgical tissue specimens) and macroscopic examination, which reveal basophilic filament aggregates and yellow "sulfur granules" [5]. However, such bacterial confirmation is accomplished in less than 50% of cases because of the overgrowth of associated bacteria, lack of the proper media, insufficient incubation period, improper specimen gathering and transportation techniques or prior antibiotic therapy. Also, when only small quantities of tissues are available, sulfur granules can be easily missed and only inflammation or fibrosis may be identified.
Percutaneous drainage, surgical excision and antimicrobial treatment are therapeutically effective. The medical treatment regimen is the administration of penicillin, tetracycline, or clindamycin [4]. Duration of treatment is variable with courses lasting from 3-6 months and it go until 18 months [7]. Surgery should be reserved for the cases in which percutaneous drainage is not possible [7]. A review of the literature by Wong et al. showed that in one series, 28 of 53 cases were managed with antibiotics alone and only two of these required surgical intervention. They also reported no significant difference in mortality between those that received antibiotics alone and those that had surgical intervention in addition to antibiotics [2].
The outcome is excellent, with a mortality rate of 7.6% [5].

Conclusion:-
Hepatic actinomycosis is a rare disease and difficult to diagnosis. The differential diagnosis is extensive. However, it has good prognosis after medical or combined medical and interventional treatment.