Focal nodular hyperplasia in children, adolescents, and young adults

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is a benign hepatic tumor that is rare in children. In order to understand whether there are differences in the etiology or appearance of FNH in children, we analyzed the clinical information and imaging of pathologically proven cases.

A pathology database was used to identify all cases of FNH diagnosed at our institution. Each patient's imaging was evaluated for the characteristics of FNH lesions. Clinical information was obtained on each patient.

Thirteen patients with FNH were identified (7 male/6 female, mean age 14.3 years, range 1-27 years). Seven patients (5 male/2 female) had a remote history of childhood malignancy. The time interval between the diagnoses of malignancy and FNH ranged from 9 to 27 years (mean 14.4 years). On imaging, all seven cancer survivors had multiple liver lesions. In the remaining six patients (2 male/4 female), there was no history of malignancy and all but one of these patients had a solitary FNH.

Half of the patients with FNH in this study were long-term cancer survivors and each of these patients had multiple masses. Recognizing the features of FNH will aid in diagnosis and appropriate management.