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Case Reports
. 2006 Feb 28;12(8):1321-3.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i8.1321.

Bile duct hamartomas (von Mayenburg complexes) mimicking liver metastases from bile duct cancer: MRC findings

Yasuhiko Nagano  1 , Kenichi Matsuo, Katsuya Gorai, Kazuya Sugimori, Chikara Kunisaki, Hideyuki Ike, Katsuaki Tanaka, Toshio Imada, Hiroshi Shimada
Affiliations
Case Reports

Bile duct hamartomas (von Mayenburg complexes) mimicking liver metastases from bile duct cancer: MRC findings

Yasuhiko Nagano et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

We present a case of a 72-year-old man with a common bile duct cancer, who was initially believed to have multiple liver metastases based on computed tomography findings, and in whom magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) revealed a diagnosis of bile duct hamartomas. At exploration for pancreaticoduodenectomy, liver palpation revealed disseminated nodules at the surface of the liver. These nodules showed gray-white nodular lesions of about 0.5 cm in diameter scattered on the surface of both liver lobes, which were looked like multiple liver metastases from bile duct cancer. Frozen section of the liver biopsy disclosed multiple bile ducts with slightly dilated lumens embedded in the collagenous stroma characteristics of multiple bile duct hamartomas (BDHs). Only two reports have described the MRC features of bile duct hamartomas. Of all imaging procedures, MRC provides the most relevant features for the imaging diagnosis of bile duct hamartomas.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showing multiple, very small and hypodense nodules with ring-like enhancement (0.5 cm in diameter) in both hepatic lobes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
MR cholangiography (TR 16 000 ms TE 107.8 ms) showing multiple irregularly delineated hyperintense nodules, not communicating with the biliary tree.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Intraoperative macroscopic view showing gray-white nodular lesions (about 0.5 cm in diameter) scattered on the surface of the both liver lobes.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Microscopic view of liver biopsy showing multiple bile ducts with slightly dilated lumens embedded in the collagenous stroma (Hematoxylin and eosin, x100).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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