Comparison of clinical characteristics of amebic liver abscess in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and non-HIV-infected patients.
OBJECTIVE
Amebic liver abscess is an emerging parasitic disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Clinical characteristics of this disease have rarely been compared between patients with and without HIV infection.


METHODS
This retrospective study included 24 patients who had been diagnosed with amebic liver abscess during a 17-year period. The demographics, clinical manifestations, radiographic findings, and outcomes were compared between HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected patients.


RESULTS
Among 24 patients with amebic abscess, 8 were HIV-infected and 16 were non-HIV-infected. The mean (+/- standard deviation [SD]) age of HIV-infected patients was 41.0 +/- 11.3 years (range, 27-62 years), which was younger than that of the non-HIV-infected group (58.5 +/- 14.6 years; range, 27-77 years; p=0.01). Compared with non-HIV-infected controls, patients with HIV infection had lower white blood cell counts (median, 17.2 x 10(9)/L vs 10.4 x 10(9)/L; p=0.01), neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio (median, 12.1 vs 2.7; p<0.01), total bilirubin (median, 42.7 micromol/L vs 13.7 micromol/L; p=0.02), blood urea nitrogen (median, 7.9 mmol/L vs 4.1 mmol/L; p=0.04), and creatinine (median, 114.9 micromol/L vs 88.4 micromol/L; p<0.01). On multivariate analysis, low N/L ratio remained a significant predictor for HIV infection (odds ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.264-0.912; p=0.024). No significant differences were observed in clinical manifestations, radiographic findings, and indirect hemagglutination titer between the 2 groups.


CONCLUSIONS
HIV-infected patients with amebic liver abscess tended to have a lower N/L ratio than non-HIV-infected comparators.
Wu
Kuan-Sheng
KS
Department of Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Tsai
Hung-Chin
HC
Lee
Susan Shin-Jung
SS
Liu
Yung-Ching
YC
Wann
Shue-Ren
SR
Wang
Yung-Hsing
YH
Mai
Ming-Hsin
MH
Chen
Jei-Kuang
JK
Sy
Cheng-Len
CL
Chen
Kung-Ming
KM
Chen
Yi-Jan
YJ
Chen
Yao-Shen
YS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000563:Amebicides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D004748:Entamoeba histolytica / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D008101:Liver Abscess, Amebic / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D000563:Amebicides; D008795:Metronidazole