[Case study of diffuse hemangiomatosis of the liver]

In adults, diffuse haemangiomatosis of the liver is a very rare condition. The aetiology and clinical evolution are not well understood, and the literature records isolated cases with different behaviours and treatments. Here we present the case of a 45-year-old patient with haemangiomatose lesions in both lobes of the liver, causing moderate to intense abdominal pain and a bloated sensation in the presence of an abdominal mass, but with hepatic and haematological functions remaining largely intact. Conventional ultrasound and CAT scan revealed diffuse lesions in both hepatic lobes, and this required the performance of a diagnostic laparoscopy to rule out hepatic metasteses or multiple liver abscess. As the findings consisted of large blue-black spongy masses involving both lobes of the liver, radical treatment of a resective type was not possible. After two years of follow-up, the patient still complains of diffuse abdominal pain of varying intensity, which is being treated with analgesics. Liver function tests have demonstrated a gradual increase in both liver enzymes and alkaline phosphatase, but without frank clinical evidence of clinical liver insufficiency.