Successful single antibiotic therapy in Actinomyces septicemia and liver abscess.

We are reporting on a 36-year-old man with septicemia and a liver abscess due to Actinomyces sp. The infection was most probably acquired while eviscerating a deer he had shot. The possibility of an infection involving Actinomyces bovis is discussed. The liver abscess was diagnosed on the basis of non-invasive procedures. Therapy consisted of high-dose penicillin without surgical drainage of the abscess. The infection did not recur during the three-and-a-half year follow-up period. No previous reports of successful antibiotic therapy for actinomycotic liver abscess without surgical procedures are known.