Localization of small liver tumors

Thirty-six patients with small liver tumor were diagnosed by alpha-fetoprotein (AFP); sonography, and computed tomography (CT), and underwent hepatectomy. The pathological types included 23 hepatocelluler carcinoma (HCC), 11 hepatic cavernous hemangioma, and 2 secondary liver cancer. In 22 patients, the tumor nodules were located in the right lobe and 14 cases in the left lobe. The diagnostic accuracy rate of CT was 100% for HCC and secondary liver cancer, but for hepatic cavernous hemangioma it was only 72.2%. However, the accuracy rate of sonography was as high as 81.8% for hepatic cavernous hemangioma and only 60.4% for liver malignancies. The positive rate of AFP for the HCC patients of this series was only 66.6%. The method of intraoperative detection of small liver tumor is introduced, if the tumor was invisible grossly or nonpalpable during exploratory laparotomy. In the series, 7 cases in whom the right lobe lesion was too small to be located by routine manual examination during exploratory laparotomy were detected by this method, and all small liver tumors were resected successfully.