[Should benign tumors of the liver be operated?]

Pedunculated Hepatic Hemangioma Masquerading as a Peritoneal Tumor. A Case Report

Background

Although being classically located inside the liver parenchyma, hemangiomas may occasionally develop outside the extra-hepatic capsule, thus appearing as a pedunculated mass.

Case Report

We report the case of a 66-year-old anal cancer female patient presenting with an asymptomatic sub-hepatic mass. Incidental diagnosis of a pedunculated hepatic hemangioma was strongly suggested by the typical imaging features on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) examinations, and was confirmed by histopathological examination.

Conclusions

Exophytic pedunculated growth is a rare and atypical feature of hepatic hemangioma. Thin contrast- enhanced sections and multiplanar CT and MR scan reformations helped to the final diagnosis of hemangioma, showing its origin from the liver edge. Surgical resection is mandatory to prevent threatening mass pedicle torsion.

Hémangiome caverneux pédiculé géant du foie : à propos d’un cas et revue de la littérature

Cavernous hepatic haemangioma is the most frequent benign liver tumour, but the giant pedunculated form is rare because only 17 cases have been described in the literature. We report our experience of one case, and compare it to the 17 other described cases. Age, incidence and size of the lesion were the same as results in the literature. Our patient has had a left hepatic lobectomy because of an uncertain diagnosis. We discuss the diagnosis and the different treatments.