Occurrence of liver abscess in patients with acute prostatitis.

Purpose: Liver abscesses concomitant with acute prostatitis are rare and potentially fatal. We analyzed the occurrence of this condition and clinical characteristics of the affected patients.

Materials and methods: The medical records of 474 patients diagnosed with acute prostatitis between June 2006 and July 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients in whom pathogens were not detected in serum or urine cultures were excluded. A total of 271 patients were included in the analysis. Patient characteristics and laboratory test results were compared between patients with acute prostatitis with and without liver abscesses.

Results: Fifteen patients (5.5%) were identified with simultaneous liver abscesses and acute prostatitis. The liver abscess group was younger than the non-liver abscess group in terms of mean age. In the univariate analysis, a high proportion of patients had diabetes mellitus, whereas a low proportion had hypertension. None of the underlying diseases, including benign prostatic hyperplasia, malignancy, or alcoholism, demonstrated a significant association with liver abscess in multivariate analysis; however, an association was observed in liver function test results. All patients with liver abscesses tested positive for Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Conclusions: When K. pneumoniae is identified in patients with acute prostatitis and abnormal liver function tests, considering the possibility of metastatic infection in other organs, including the liver, and performing an active evaluation is essential.