Clinical and pathological features of pyogenic liver abscess in patients with diabetes mellitus

Objective　To summarize the clinical and pathological features of pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods　A retrospective study was performed to analyze the clinical and pathological data of 42 DM patients with PLA in 306 Hospital of PLA from January 2001 to December 2010. Results　All the DM patients with PLA were cured without relapse and mortality, and the hospital stay was 19-57 days. Thirty-three patients received minimally invasive surgical treatment, including 10 percutaneous needle aspiration (PNA), 23 percutaneous catheter drainage (PCD), and 3 patients undergoing surgical excision, with full and uneventful recovery. Among the 10 patients undergoing PNA, 6 patients were cured after one aspiration procedure, 3 patients after two, and 1 patient after three aspirations. The drainage tubes were removed from patients who received PCD after a mean of 8.6 days. 3-4 days after surgery, the temperature of patients returned to normal, and no complications occurred. The pathological examination revealed numerous fibrous septa in the abscess cavity, inflammatory cells infiltration in the liver tissues surrounding the abscess, and the presence of Mallory bodies in the cytoplasm. The examination also showed that the number of glycogen granule in the hepatocyte was decreased, and the expression of cytokeratin 8 increased (P＜0.05). Conclusion　 More attention should be paid to DM with the complication of PLA because of its particular clinical and pathological characteristics.