LEPTOSPIROSIS AND LIVER ABSCESS: AN UNUSUAL ASSOCIATION

Pedro Ribeirinho-Soares; Miguel Souto; Jorge Almeida

doi:10.12890/2023_003783

LEPTOSPIROSIS AND LIVER ABSCESS: AN UNUSUAL ASSOCIATION

Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. 2023 Feb 28;10(3):003783. doi: 10.12890/2023_003783. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Pedro Ribeirinho-Soares^{1

2}, Miguel Souto³, Jorge Almeida¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Center of São João, E.P.E., Porto, Portugal.
² Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
³ Clinical Pharmacology Unit, University Hospital Center of São João, E.P.E., Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic infection infrequently reported in non-tropical regions. Although classically described as a biphasic illness, unusual clinical manifestations have been reported, including a previous case of a lung abscess associated with this causative agent. We present the case of a 49-year-old man with a new diagnosis of two liver abscesses associated with leptospirosis.

Learning points: Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira; the infection is more commonly reported in tropical regions.Leptospirosis classically manifests as a biphasic illness, the first phase characterized by high fever that coincides with leptospiraemia, followed by a brief period when the patient is afebrile. In the second phase, fever returns, accompanied by jaundice and renal failure.The unusual clinical manifestations of leptospirosis include a previous report of a lung abscess, but despite frequent liver involvement, liver abscess in this context has not previously been described.

Keywords: Leptospirosis; liver abscess; zoonosis.