Giant hepatic angiomyolipoma: a case report

Diagnosis and surgical treatment of a rare hepatic angiomyolipoma with internal hemorrhage

Although angiomyolipoma (AML) is commonly found in the kidney, its appearance in the liver is rare. The first hepatic AML was reported by Ishak in 1976. Since then, there have been various reports of AML. An AML is a tumour affecting adipocytes, muscle tissues, and blood vessels. Hepatic AML has been associated with tuberous sclerosis. Its spontaneous occurrence has also been noticed. It can have a varied presentation with some being asymptomatic, others presenting with a dull aching pain, while some with disastrous consequences due to rupture and torrential bleeding intra-abdominally. Herein, we present a case of a 47-year-old female with a large hepatic AML having an internal hemorrhage that caused changes in hepatic arteries. In our case, magnetic resonance imaging was unable to establish a diagnosis. Intraoperatively, AML caused dilatation and engorgement of vessels around the porta. Immediately post resection, vessel dilatation and engorgement were reduced on table. Another notable feature was that these changes caused no intra-operative or post-operative hemodynamic changes. We report a case of a huge hepatic AML with internal hemorrhage associated with perihepatic vascular changes having a successful surgical treatment.

Laparoscopic hepatectomy for hepatic angiomyolipoma with preoperative diagnosis of other malignancy: a report of 2 cases

Background

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) is a rare liver tumor, and hepatectomy is the only effective treatment. Due to the difficulty of correct diagnosis of HAML before surgery by image studies, more than 36.6% of reported HAMLs are misdiagnosed as other malignant liver tumors before surgery. As there are only few reported cases in which HAMLs were removed using laparoscopic hepatectomy, the effectiveness of laparoscopic hepatectomy for such HAMLs in which are diagnosed as other malignant liver tumor before surgery has not been reported.

Case presentation

Case 1: a 58-year-old female with a history of treatment for autoimmune hepatitis was preoperatively diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (size: 20 mm) in segment 7 (S7) of the liver. The tumor was removed by laparoscopic partial resection and was diagnosed as a HAML through a pathological examination. The patient’s postoperative course was good, and she was recurrence-free at 37 months after the hepatectomy. Case 2: a 29-year-old female with a history of surgery for a right mature cystic teratoma was referred to our department to receive treatment for a growing 20-mm liver tumor with some calcification, which arose in S3 of the liver. A metastatic liver tumor derived from the mature cystic teratoma was suspected, and laparoscopic left lateral sectionectomy was performed. The liver tumor was diagnosed as a HAML after a pathological examination. The patient’s postoperative course was unremarkable, and more than 54 months have passed since the hepatectomy without any recurrence.

Conclusions

Two cases in which HAMLs were preoperatively diagnosed as other malignant liver tumor were successfully removed by laparoscopic hepatectomy with a correct postoperative diagnosis. Laparoscopic hepatectomy for the present 2 cases of HAML seemed to be effective for providing a correct diagnosis after the curative removement of liver tumor with a smaller invasion compared to open hepatectomy, and for denying risk of dissemination of the malignant tumor by needle biopsy that had to be considered before ruling out malignant tumor.