Next generation sequencing-guided anti-infective therapy of large liver abscess due to Edwardsiella tarda: a case report

Background Liver abscess is a potentially fatal disease, however identification of its causative pathogen remains challenging, which is crucial for guiding appropriate antibiotic therapy. To the best of our knowledge, the use of plasma next-generation sequencing (NGS) based pathogen analysis in patients with liver abscess has never been reported. Case presentation We report a case with large liver abscess due to Edwardsiella tarda that was diagnosed by the plasma-based NGS assay within 24 h. After a 2-week single agent anti-infection therapy, the patient completely recovered. A second NGS assay following anti-infection therapy failed to detect the pathogenic DNA. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdomen on 1 month and 3 months showed a gradually decrease in size of the liver abscess, and the 6-month MRI showed that the abscess disappeared completely. Conclusions Our data indicated that the plasma NGS test can sensitively and minimal-invasively detect pathogens within a clinically actionable timeframe, and antibiotic alone is an alternative to first-line treatment for large liver abscess with the aid of NGS for accurate detection of the pathogenic bacterial genome.