Ectopic hepatic tissue misdiagnosed as a tumor of lung

Abstract

The ectopic or accessory liver lobe is an uncommon congenital anatomic abnormality. It is considered to be the outcome of an abnormal development of liver tissue during embryologic period. In some cases, it may be secondary to a trauma or a surgical operation. Literature reports only anecdotal cases; there are not series. The most common localization is the abdominal cavity, but very rarely it can also be found in the thoracic cavity. In most cases, preoperative correct diagnosis is very difficult because it is unlikely to consider this rare condition in course of differential diagnosis. Most cases are misdiagnosed, and patients undergo surgical intervention with suspect of lung lesion. Some times the intrathoracic accessory lobe is an intraoperative incidental finding. In this report, we present the case of a young female patient who underwent surgical treatment for a suspect pulmonary lesion that at histological examination resulted to be an intrathoracic accessory hepatic lobe.