Pseudomonas aeruginosa liver abscesses following endoscopic retrograde cholangiography. Report of a case without biliary tract disease.

We report a case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa liver abscesses following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in a patient without evidence of biliary tract disease and of any known cause of hepatic infection. Computer tomography (CT) scan was the best method of diagnosis, allowing, through guided percutaneous puncture of the abscesses, isolation of the organism, which was sensitive to carbenicillin. One month of antibiotherapy with repeated aspirations of the largest abscesses was successful. This report suggests that ERCP may induce cholangitic sepsis by inoculating pathogens in the biliary tree even in the absence of extrahepatic obstruction.