Hepatic Vasculitis Mimicking Liver Abscesses in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

We report a 29-year-old female with SLE who presented with right upper quadrant abdominal pain, thrombocytopenia, elevated liver enzymes and multiple hypodense lesions in the liver on a computed tomography (CT) study that mimicked multiple liver abscesses. A liver biopsy showed mild chronic inflammation. Culture results were negative. With steroid therapy the patient improved clinically, the platelet count returned to the normal range and the multiple liver lesions disappeared radiologicaly. This patient represents a rare case of SLE that had hepatic vasculitis mimicking multiple liver abscesses. Ann Saudi Med 2009; 29(6): 474-477PMID: 19847087 DOI: 10.4103/0256-4947.57172
Source: Annals of Saudi Medicine - Category: General Medicine Tags: ISSUE 6 Source Type: research