PERINEPHRIC ABSCESS MIMICKING FULMINANT HEPATIC-FAILURE

We describe a female diabetic patient who presented with features sugg estive of hepatobiliary disease and who exhibited clinical signs of fu lminant hepatic failure. Identification and drainage of a right perine phric abscess resulted in prompt resolution of both the physical signs and biochemical indices of liver disease. Infection remote from the h epatobiliary tree can mimic fulminant hepatic failure, and recognition of this unusual presentation of infection is important if dangerous d elay in diagnosis and treatment is to be avoided