Amoebic Liver Abscess: A disease native to Oman?

OBJECTIVES: Amoebic liver abscess (ALA) is endemic to many areas of the world. This study sought to investigate the epidemiology, presentation, laboratory tests and imaging characteristics of ALA in Oman and ultimately determine whether it is native to Oman or originated abroad. METHODS: This case series study was conducted at the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman, from January 2013 to December 2017 with patients older than 13 years and having a discharge diagnosis of ALA. Patient data were extracted from the Royal Hospital patient database. RESULTS: 22 patients were included in the study—18 Omani patients and four expatriates. Only two Omanis had a history of traveling abroad. There were 15 male patients and seven were female with an average age of 45.2 years. The most common presentation was abdominal pain, which was seen in 17 patients. Fever was seen in 13 patients. Alanine transferase was found to be elevated in 13 patients. The majority of patients (90%) had no symptomatic infections prior to developing ALA. CONCLUSION: The data suggests that ALA is endemic to Oman, considering the high number of local patients and lack of travel abroad in this population. As the number of patients treated for ALA is rather small, it can be concluded that the occurrence of ALA is much lower in Oman than in other endemic areas. The majority of patients had no prior symptomatic infections; thus, a method of control involves screening to prevent amoebic spread.