Diagnosis of liver hemangioma

Abstract

Background: Benign liver tumors are now being diagnosed frequently with the advent of the greater use of imaging investigations. The most common lesion is the liver hemangioma 0.4-7.3%, with an incidence rate at autopsy ranging from 3% to 20%.

Material and methods: One hundred and one patients underwent operative treatment in the Department of General and Liver-pancreatic Surgery, UH "Alexandrovska" Sofia from 1995 to April 2013. There were 74 (73.3%) females and 27 (26.7%) males. Mean age was 50.7 years (range 25 to 77). Seventy-four patients (73.3%) had a solitary tumor. Methods for diagnosis included history of the disease, routine haematological and liver function tests, ultrasonography, CT, MRI or a combination of more than one technique.

Results: The diagnostic sensitivity of the imaging procedures was U/S 96.9%, CT scanning 98.3% and MRI 100% .The diagnostic specificity--U/S 60.3%, CT scanning 55.0%, MRI 85.7%.

Conclusion: Hepatic hemangioma is diagnosed in most patients using non-invasive studies such as US, CT and MRI or a combination of them.