[Amoebic liver abscess in general surgery at the Gabriel Touré teaching hospital, Bamako, Mali].

The objectives were to determine the frequency, and to describe the clinical and therapeutic aspects of amoebic liver abscess. This was a retrospective study in the general surgery department of the Gabriel Touré teaching hospital from 1 January 2004 to December 2008. Included in this study, were all patients hospitalized and treated for amoebic liver abscess. We collected 53 cases a frequency of 1.3%. This was 45 men (84.9%) and 8 women (15.1%). The sex ratio was 5.6. The average age was 39.5 years. The average consultation time was 3 weeks. The signs observed were fever 96.2% (51 cases), the hepatalgia 94.3% (50 case), hepatomegaly 90.6% (48 cases) and anorexia 88.7% (47 cases). Collections of objectified abscess in abdominal ultrasound were located in the right lobe in 79.2% (42 cases), unique in 92.5% (49 cases) and 100 mm in diameter on average. Pulmonary radiography found an elevation of the right diaphragmatic dome 66.7% (14 cases). Amoebic serology was performed in 60.4% of cases, was negative in 2 cases (6.2%). Medical treatment alone was effective in the majority of cases - 62.7% (32 cases), an ultrasound-guided paracentesis associated with medical treatment was required in 31.4% (16 cases). Surgical methods were very rarely recommended 5.9 % (3 cases). The average amount of pus was 637.6ml. Average duration of treatment was 11 days. We recorded three deaths, including one due to a sepsis on peritonitis from ruptured liver abscess and 2 cases due to HIV.
Conclusion: The amoebic liver abscess is uncommon in our service. Negative serology does not exclude the diagnosis. Medical treatment is usually curative in the absence of complications.
(Le comitée de rédaction se réserve le droit de revoyer aux auteurs avant toute soumission à l'avis des lecteurs les manuscrits qui ne seraient pas conformes à ces modalités de présentation. En outre il leur conseille de sonserver un examplaire du manuscrit, des figures et des tableaux.)