Cavernous hemangioma of the liver. A single institution report of 16 resections

Over the past 27 years cavernous hemangioma of the liver has been diagnosed in 12 nonoperated patients and in 16 patients who had resection of the lesion at Strong Memorial Hospital. In almost all patients the diagnosis was suggested by an imaging procedure. In the 12 nonoperated patients the average size of the tumor was 4.7 cm (range: 3-8 cm). No problems related to the tumor occurred during the follow-up period. The average size of the resected lesion was 10 cm (range: 4-32 cm). The usual indication for resection was pain, mass, or a combination of these manifestations. Five lobectomies, five left lateral segmentectomies, two trisegmentectomies, two segmentectomies, and two enucleations were performed. There were no postoperative deaths. Review of the literature indicates that although rapid growth of the lesion occurred during pregnancy in one patient, the effects of pregnancy or contraceptive drugs on growth are inconsistent. Spontaneous rupture occurs infrequently, and the potential for rupture should not constitute an indication for resection, which should be performed selectively. Intraoperative blood loss may be appreciable, but a mortality rate near 0% has been reported in all institutional series.