Amebic liver abscess, Mirizzi syndrome, and acute hepatic failure

Amebic liver abscess is an important cause of an inflammatory space-occupying lesion of the liver that nowadays, with the availability of potent antiamebic therapies, has a relatively benign course. Amebic liver abscess has a variety of presenting signs and symptoms, jaundice being uncommon and liver functions being only moderately impaired; 10–15% of patients present only fever, without a history of diarrhea. Difficulty in diagnosis of amebic liver abscess is, however, not unusual in that it may be confused with acute biliary diseases or other intraabdominal infections . With the availability of potent antiamebic drugs, amebic liver abscess has a relative benign course, with a low mortality (2). The most frequent life-threatening consequence described is its rupture into adjacent structures (1). We herein describe a case of an amebic liver abscess complicated by acute hepatic failure (AHF) in a diabetic patient with gallstone disease.