Hepatic actinomycosis: a case report.

Abstract

A 64-year-old man with hepatic actinomycosis presented with several months of weight loss and poor appetite. However, no fever was noted before admission. Findings on abdominal sonography and computed tomography scan were suggestive of hepatocellular carcinoma. A sono-guided percutaneous liver biopsy specimen demonstrated only chronic fibrosing inflammation. Therefore, laparotomy was performed and the diagnosis of hepatic actinomycosis was established after surgical resection. The patient was then successfully treated. The fact that hepatic actinomycosis may be very similar to hepatocellular carcinoma should be highly suspected. The hospital course of this patient concerning this condition and a brief review of the literature are presented to illustrate the diagnostic difficulties which may be encountered in such cases.