Sonographic appearances and percutaneous management of primary tuberculousliver abscess

Primary tuberculous liver abscesses are rare. We report on 3 patients who p resented with a nonresolving abscess in the liver. Clinical presentation an d sonographic findings in each case were non-specific. A diagnosis of tuber culosis was established with microbiologic examination of pus in 2 cases an d examination of an excised abscess wall in 1 case. Needle aspiration (1 pa tient) and short-term (72 hours) catheter drainage (1 patient) were unsucce ssful, and surgical excision was required in these patients. In the third p atient, continuous catheter drainage over 18 days resulted in cure, indicat ing that long-term catheter drainage with antituberculous chemotherapy may be a viable alternative to surgery in the management of primary tuberculous liver abscess. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.