BACTERIOLOGIC CULTURE OF THE DISEASED HUMAN LIVER

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Abstract
Culture of the liver was performed in 20 patients with various types of acute and chronic liver disease. Cultures were obtained from biopsy specimens, and from aspiration of the liver when biopsy was contraindicated. A quantitative counting method was used to differentiate contamination from infection. The one positive culture was obtained from a patient with a common duct stone and ascending cholangitis. The data that are presently available suggest that bacteria are not ordinarily found in the human liver or portal vein blood, but that bacteria may invade the portal vein under unusual physiologic circumstances, such as abdominal trauma, surgery, irradiation, shock, anoxia, or other circumstances leading to local changes in the intestinal wall. Why biliary stasis is particularly related to the retention of bacteria in the liver is not yet clear.
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