Hemangioma of the liver

Hemangioma of the liver, also liver hemangioma and hepatic hemangioma, is a benign vascular tumour of the liver, that may be mistaken for metastatic disease.

Hemangioma of the liver
Diagnosis in short
Cavernous liver hemangioma. H&E stain.
LM DDx	epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, angiosarcoma, metastatic disease
Site	liver
Clinical history	often an incidental finding
Symptoms	+/-upper abdominal pain
Radiology	well circumscribed mass
Prognosis	benign
Clin. DDx	metastatic disease
Treatment	usually follow-up, non-conservative if very large

Hemangiomas, more generally, are dealt with in the hemangioma article.

General

• Benign.
• Usually an incidental finding (incidentaloma) and often asymptomatic.
• Large lesions may present with upper abdominal pain.

Clinical:

• Do not grow in size - can be followed if small or medium size (<10 cm).

Gross

• Variable size.
• Well circumscribed.

Microscopic

Features:

• Channels lined by benign endothelium containing RBCs.

DDx:

• Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma.
• Angiosarcoma.
• Metastatic disease.

Images

• 

  Cavernous liver hemangioma - intermed. mag. (WC/Nephron)

• 

  Cavernous liver hemangioma - high mag. (WC/Nephron)

Sign out

Liver Lesion, Core Biopsy:
- Cavernous hemangioma.
- NEGATIVE for malignancy.

See also

• Hemangioma.