Adult hepatoblastoma: A case report and literature review

Adult hepatoblastoma is a rare malignant liver neoplasm. Surgery is the only cure, but recurrence is common even after complete resection. No therapeutic strategy has been established.

A 22-year-old man presented with a rapidly expanding right hypochondrial mass. Pain preceded the appearance of the mass. No definitive diagnosis was established in the referring hospital. In addition, two attempts of embolization failed to reach the tumor due to its large size and vascular displacement. Clinical examination revealed a 26cm×23cm mass occupying the right hypochondrium and epigastrium as far as the right iliac fossa, compressing the stomach, spleen, kidneys and liver. The preoperative diagnosis was gastrointestinal stromal tumor because it appeared to originate from the stomach. During surgery, we found a mass arising from the liver, adhering to the omentum, stomach, and left hemidiaphragm, and infiltrating the pericardium. The tumor was completely resected off the inferior vena cava and pericardium. The histopathological diagnosis was a 30cm×30cm hepatoblastoma weighing 4kg. The postoperative treatment course went smoothly until day 10, when the patient developed complications like bilateral atrial thrombi and left ventricular hypokinesia and expired on day 16.

Due to the rarity of hepatoblastoma in adults and non-specific initial symptoms, hepatoblastoma is often overlooked as a diagnosis. Early detection may lead to improved prognosis and survival.

We report here the first case of adult hepatoblastoma in the Middle East and the largest such tumor ever reported in literature.