Sarcomatoid intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma mimicking liver abscess: A case report

Sarcomatoid intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (SICC) is an extremely rare and highly invasive malignant tumor of the liver. To our knowledge, the imaging findings of sarcomatous cholangiocarcinoma have been rarely reported; and radiological features of this tumor mimicking liver abscess have not yet been reported.

We present a case of SICC mimicking liver abscess. The patient, a 43-year-old male, complained of repeated upper right abdominal discomfort and intermittent distension over a period of one month. Radiology examination revealed a huge focal lesion in the right liver. The lesion was hypointense on computed tomography with honeycomb enhancement surrounded by enhanced peripheral areas. It showed a hypo-signal on non-contrast T1-weighted images and a hyper-signal on non-contrast T2-weighted images. Radiologists diagnosed the lesion as an atypical liver abscess. The patient underwent a hepatectomy. After surgery, he survived another 2.5 mo before passing away. A search of PubMed and Google revealed 43 non-repeated cases of SICC reported in 20 published studies. The following is a short review in order to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic skills in cases of SICC.

This report presents the clinical and radiological features of SICC and imaging features which showed hypovascularity and progressive enhancement. SICC can present as a multilocular cyst on radiological images and it is necessary to distinguish this lesion from an atypical abscess. Simple surgical treatment is not the best treatment option for this disease.