[Multiple hepatic sclerosed hemangiomas that are difficult to diagnose preoperatively:a case report]

An 83-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of a space-occupying lesion (SOL) in the liver. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) showed a nodule measuring 20mm in size in the posterosuperior segment of the right hepatic lobe (S7) and another nodule measuring 14mm in size in the anterosuperior segment of the right hepatic lobe (S8). The margins of these nodules showed faint enhancement in the arterial phase and presented as low-density areas in the equilibrium phase. The S8 SOL could not be easily identified using ultrasonography (US). However, the S7 SOL could be clearly identified as a nodule accompanying the marginal enhancement in the early vascular phase and a defect in the late vascular phase using contrast-enhanced US. On gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, both nodules were described as low-intensity lesions in the T1 phase, high-intensity lesions in the T2 phase, faint high-intensity diffusion-weighted images, and clear low-intensity lesions in the hepatobiliary phase. On positron-emission CT, there was no uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose in these nodules. Hepatectomy was performed because we were unable to rule out a malignant tumor. Histopathologically, these lesions demonstrated collapsed vascular spaces against a background of rich paucicellular fibrous stroma and were diagnosed as sclerosed hemangiomas. The occurrence of multiple sclerosed hemangiomas is rare and often difficult to diagnose because of variable findings on imaging studies. We report a case of multiple hepatic sclerosed hemangiomas, which was difficult to diagnose preoperatively. Moreover, we have reviewed the literature, particularly with respect to the relevant imaging findings.