Wandering liver: multidetector CT features and the importance of multiplanar reformations

The terms wandering liver, hepatic torsion, and hepatic vagrancy have been applied to cases in which hepatic hypermobility results in displacement of the liver from its normal position within the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. This is thought to result from multiple factors, including the lack of normal hepatic suspensory ligaments, persistence of the ventral mesentery, and lack of inferior vena cava tethering Siddins and Cade (Aust N Z J Surg 60:400-403, 1990). A wandering liver has been described in both adults Siddins and Cade (Aust N Z J Surg 60:400-403, 1990), Tate (Am Surg 59:455-458, 1993), Chiavarini and Chang (Radiology 115:47-48, 1974), Cope and Levy (South Afr Med J 40:366-369, 1966), Sharov (Vestn Roentgenol Radiol 35:63-64, 1960), Puthenpurayil et al. (AJR 177:1113-1115, 2001), Fuentes et al. (AJR 188:331-333, 2007) and children Feins and Borger (AJR 188:331-333, 2007), Al-Ali et al. (Pediatr Radiol 27:287, 1997), and it is usually associated with bowel obstruction Siddins and Cade (Aust N Z J Surg 60:400-403, 1990), Tate (Am Surg 59:455-458, 1993), Chiavarini and Chang (Radiology 115:47-48, 1974), Cope and Levy (South Afr Med J 40:366-369, 1966), Sharov (Vestn Roentgenol Radiol 35:63-64, 1960), Fuentes et al. (AJR 188:331-333, 2007), Feins and Borger (AJR 188:331-333, 2007). We report a case of an incidental wandering liver in an adult without associated obstruction, diagnosed by multidetector computed tomography with multiplanar reformations.