[Familial hepatic hemangiomas]

Cavernous hemangioma is the most frequent benign hepatic tumor. These tumors are usually small, solitary or multiple, and asymptomatic but they can be large. In the majority of cases, these tumors are sporadic. We describe a family in which six members from three successive generations presented cavernous hepatic hemangiomas. One of the women, who was taking oral contraceptives, presented a giant cavernous hemangioma causing pain in the right hypochondriac region and biochemical abnormalities while the remaining cases were asymptomatic. We found only one study in the literature that reports familial cavernous hepatic hemangioma; a further two studies describe hepatic hemangiomas in members of families with angiomas in other sites. We believe that description of a new family with this disease is of interest. The findings could support autosomal dominant inheritance as the mode of transmission of these tumors, as well as the existence of proliferative factors in these tumors.