Abstract
During the period from 1982 to December 1994, 36 patients with amoebiasis were treated at our hospital. Twenty-one of them underwent a total of colonoscopic examina-tions. All of the patients were male, ranging in age from 28 to 84 years (median: 48.4 years). Twenty patients had amoebic colitis and nine had amoebic liver abscess. The most common sites of amoebiasis were the rectum and cecum. Diverse lesions were found at endoscopy, ranging from typical skip-like variolif orm elevated lesions, erosions, and erythema, to atypical cases of irregular fused ulcers. Ulcers and erosions were rapidly eliminated by treatment, but erythema persisted for a relatively long time. The endoscopic features of the nine patients with liver abscesses ranged from severe ulceration to no findings at all. A diagnosis of Entamoeba histolytica was verified in 16 patients (76.2%). It is necessary to use feces, lavage fluid, and biopsy concomitantly to improve detection.
