Amoebic liver abscess in pregnancy

We describe the case of an amoebic liver abscess (ALA) presenting in the th ird trimester of pregnancy which raised both diagnostic and treatment dilem mas as well as being associated with preterm labour. Amoebic liver abscess is caused by the protozoan organism Entamoeba histoly tica which is endemic in many parts of the developing world. Invasion of th e colonic mucosa results in the clinical syndrome of amoebic dysentery and in some cases dissemination to the liver or other organs occurs resulting i n abscess formation.(1) Amoebic liver abscess is a rare complication of pregnancy and there are few reports in the world literature, these being mostly from endemic areas.(2, 3,4,5) We present here the case of a caucasian female who presented with an amoebic liver abscess in the third trimester of pregnancy, thirteen months after returning to Australia from a short holiday in Bali.