Amoebic Liver Abscess: Revisited

Amoebiasis is common in Asia, Africa, and South America, and is endemic in many regions of the Philippines1-4. Hepatic involvement is a frequent extra-intestinal complication which is encountered in 3 to 9% of the cases of amoebiasis. In Africa, over a period of 20 years, the King Edward VIII Hospital reported 2,074 cases of hepatic abscess, while in New York City at the Mt. Sinai Hospital only 11 cases were seen in approximately 500,000 admissions2,3. The Santo Tomas University Hospital in Manila had an incidence of one hepatic amoebic abscess per thousand admissions over a ten-year period4,5. Despite the advances in diagnostic tests and management, amoebic liver abscess remains to be a health problem in many parts of the world, where hygiene is not properly observed.