Skip to main content

Write a PREreview

A Liver Abscess Mimicking Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Note-Worthy Insights to Avoid Misdiagnosis

Posted
Server
Preprints.org
DOI
10.20944/preprints202604.1704.v1

Background: Liver abscesses represent an atypical yet potentially life-threatening complication of bacterial, fungal, protozoal, and helminthic infections. Frequently, the clinical findings associated with liver abscesses are nonspecific, necessitating a reliance on imaging for diagnosis. It is uncommon for a liver abscess to radiographically resemble a malignant liver tumor such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we present the case of a 45-year-old male who was initially diagnosed with HCC (BCLC C) but was subse-quently found to have a liver abscess following biopsy. Case Presentation: A male patient, 45, presented with stiffness and pain in the right upper abdomen. He complained of nausea and vomiting since 10 days before admission as well. All supportive imaging suggested a diagnosis of HCC. A liver abscess was detected during a biopsy. A liver ultrasound-guided FNAB showcased chronic, suppurative in-flammation with negative acid-fast bacilli on Ziehl-Neelsen staining. The patient sub-sequently developed a complication of middle hepatic artery bleeding and underwent immediate embolization. Discussion: In fact, a liver abscess can be the initial manifestation of HCC. Patients tend to have a poorer prognosis because the diagnosis of a liver abscess often delays the discovery of the underlying HCC. Radiographically, liver abscesses range from well-circumscribed cystic lesions with an enhancing rim to heterogeneously enhancing mass-like lesions, which are sometimes indistinguishable from liver neoplasms. However, it is so scarce that a liver abscess may radiographically mimic HCC. Conclusion: Assessing liver abscess is somewhat complicated since the symptoms vary a lot. Therefore, a correct and exact diagnosis entail a combination of more comprehensive clinical and supporting examinations.

You can write a PREreview of A Liver Abscess Mimicking Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Note-Worthy Insights to Avoid Misdiagnosis. A PREreview is a review of a preprint and can vary from a few sentences to a lengthy report, similar to a journal-organized peer-review report.

Before you start

We will ask you to log in with your ORCID iD. If you don’t have an iD, you can create one.

What is an ORCID iD?

An ORCID iD is a unique identifier that distinguishes you from everyone with the same or similar name.

Start now