Hepatic metastases complicated by abscess formation

Hepatic abscesses and hepatic metastasis are common diseases. However, hepatic abscesses seldom occur in patients with hepatic metastases. We describe a case of a 67-year-old female patient with abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed several lesions, with the largest lesion displaying features of both hepatic pyogenic abscess and liver metastasis. These features included iso- or hypointense signaling on T1WI and T2WI, hyperintense signaling on diffusion weighted imaging of the thick wall, and mixed hyperintense signal in the center on DWI, as well as dramatic and irregular peripheral enhancement was detected on LAVA dynamic contrast scanning. Aspiration and culture of the largest lesions revealed Klebsiella pneumoniae and a pathologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma. At this point, the patient admitted a history of colon adenocarcinoma 9 years ago treated with hemicolectomy. Therefore, this patient was considered to have a hepatic pyogenic abscesses complicated by hepatic metastasis. The patient began treatment for the responsible pathogens and underwent chemoembolization of the liver lesions. In special cases, we could attempt to pursue a more detailed search for coexistence of microorganism infection and tumor.