MRI APPEARANCES IN AMEBIC GRANULOMATOUS HEPATITIS - A CASE-REPORT

Amoebiasis is a common cause of liver disease usually presenting as si ngle large or multiple smaller abscesses. Cases with granulomatous hep atitis have rarely been described. We report the case of a 7-year-old girl with amoebic granulomatous hepatitis in which multiple liver absc esses were demonstrated by MRI. A total of 14 abscesses were identifie d, ranging from 5 mm to 3 cm in diameter. The largest lesions appeared to T2-weighted images as heterogeneous, low-intensity areas surrounde d by a double-layered wall, the inner layer.of which was hyperintense and the outer layer hypointense. These signs, which have never been de scribed in classic amoebic abscess, represent, we believe, a pattern o f hepatic granulomatous amoebiasis lesions. We suggest that MRI should always be performed in cases of amoebic infection.