The Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society Issue 11 Vol 114 | Page 14

Amebic Abscess In a Patient Presenting
With Abdominal Pain and Weight Loss
Chinedu Ede, MD; 1
Shashank Kraleti, MD 1
1
College of Medicine, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
UAMS, Little Rock
ABSTRACT
A
40-year-old male with no signifi-
cant past medical history present-
ed to our clinic with cough, right
aged between 40-50 years. 3 Transmission is
through fecal-oral route, most common symptom
is abdominal pain presenting along with other
constitutional symptoms.
upper quadrant pain, fatigue and weight CASE REPORT
loss over a period of eight months. Mag-
netic Resonance Imaging (MRI) demonstrated
a mass in the liver. Amebic liver abscess was
confirmed serologically. Patient responded well
to antibiotics and the post hospital follow-up in
clinic correlated with a good clinical outcome.
Amebic liver abscess should be suspected in
patients presenting with unexplained right upper
quadrant pain (with no definitive etiology identi-
fied after the initial evaluation). Since it is quite
uncommon in the United States (U.S.), there is
a tendency to miss the diagnosis. High index of
suspicion is needed in endemic areas of the US
and in risk groups. A 40-year-old male presented to our clinic
with a three-month history of non-productive
cough, fatigue, right upper abdominal episodic
pain, subjective fever, unintentional weight loss of
60 pounds over eight months. He had visited a
physician about a month prior to presentation and
was diagnosed with gastro-esophageal reflux dis-
ease. He was started on a proton pump inhibitor
that did not alleviate his symptoms. Past medical
history was significant for syphilis treated a year
prior to presentation. The patient smoked one
pack of cigarettes per day for the last 20 years,
consumed 24 ounces of beer daily for 20 years,
and smoked marijuana and cocaine f