Adenocarcinoma and infection in a solitary hepatic cyst: a case report

Solitary non-parasitic liver cysts are being increasingly diagnosed due to the increased use of abdominal sonography. The majority of solitary liver cysts are asymptomatic; however, there are some complications which include infection, perforation, spontaneous hemorrhage, obstructive jaundice and neoplastic degeneration. In some cases a cystic liver lesion may mimic a tumor and is difficult to differentiate with standard imaging studies or fine needle aspiration cytology. Here in, we report a case of adenocarcinoma arising in a solitary hepatic cyst complicated with Klebsiella pneumoniae infection. High levels of CEA in the cyst fluid levels suggested malignancy, which was confirmed by pathology of the resected specimen.