Rare presentation of actinomycosis as an abdominal mass

Abstract

Abdominal actinomycosis is an extremely rare infection that can mimic multiple disease processes and requires accurate diagnosis for successful therapy. This novel presentation and a review of the literature are reported.

Abdominal Actinomycosis Mimicking a Malignant Neoplasm

“…Franziska Nä f, 1 Annette Enzler-Tschudy, 2 Stefan P. Kuster, 3 Isabell Uhlig, 1 and Thomas Steffen 1 A 46-year old female was referred to the emergency department with abdominal pain in the right lower hemiabdomen. An increasing abdominal girth, recurrent fever over the last three months, weight loss of 15 kg over the past six months, and repeated night sweats were reported.…”

“…Bradshaw first described abdominal actinomycosis in 1846 as a right iliac fossa mass with spontaneous discharge through the skin [1]. Actinomycotic infection is characterized by the formation of painful inflammatory masses or abscesses.…”

“…The ileocecal region is the abdominal site affected most commonly [2]. Actinomycosis is three times more common in males than in females [1]. Long term use of an IUCD represents a risk factor for pelvic actinomycosis [4,5].…”

“…The diagnosis of abdominal actinomycosis is not made typically until histopathological examination is completed [1].…”

Surgical treatment for abdominal actinomycosis: A report of two cases

“…Among the abdominal organs, liver, gall pathways, pancreas, gastro intestines and kidney are involved [2] . The differential diagnosis includes malignancies (such as sarcoma and cholangiocarcinoma), ameboma, inflamma- tory bowel diseases (such as diverticular disease, intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease) and pathological status within the abdominal muscles [6][7][8] . Definitive diagnosis is made by identification of this pathogen in the pus.…”