A retrospective study of pyogenic liver abscess focusing on Klebsiella pneumoniae as a primary pathogen in China from 1994 to 2015

Pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) is a common intra-abdominal infection in adults. In this study, we aim to explore demographic and clinical characteristics of PLA focusing on Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) induced PLA (KP-PLA) in mainland China. A retrospective review of medical records from all patients with KP-PLA admitted to a tertiary teaching hospital over a 21-year period (1994–2015) was performed. Among 296 PLA cases with confirmed culture-positive data, K. pneumoniae was revealed as the predominant pathogen (n = 189, 63.9%), followed by Escherichia coli (n = 39, 13.2%). Strikingly, KP-PLA patients had a higher incidence of metabolic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus (49.7% vs. 36.4%, P = 0.027; odds ratio (OR): 1.725; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.061–2.805), hypertension (38.1% vs. 19.6%, P = 0.001; OR: 2.520; 95% CI: 1.439–4.413), and fatty liver (32.3% vs. 14.0%, P = 0.001; OR: 2.923; 95% CI: 1.564–5.462) than those with non-K. pneumoniae induced PLA (non-KP-PLA). Moreover, patients with KP-PLA had higher susceptibility to septic metastatic infection at distant sites compared to those with non-KP-PLA (10.6% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.038). Our results indicate that K. pneumoniae is the predominant pathogen of PLA in mainland China. KP-PLA is frequently diagnosed in patients with metabolic diseases and has a higher risk for septic metastatic infection.