Indium chloride bone marrow scintigraphy for hepatic myelolipoma: A case report

As hepatic myelolipoma is rarely encountered, its radiological diagnosis using ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is challenging. Hepatic myelolipoma is similar to fat-contained hepatic lesions seen in hepatocellular carcinoma and angiomyolipoma. Therefore, further development of techniques to diagnose hepatic myelolipoma is warranted.

A 44-year-old obese man was found to have a hepatic lesion during his medical checkup. The lesion was 50 mm × 57 mm in size and was detected in segment 8 (S8) of the liver by US. The patient was diagnosed with hepatic lesion 20 years ago, but it was left unresolved. The patient had no symptoms, liver dysfunction, hepatitis virus antibody, or tumor marker elevation. Plain CT showed a well-defined lesion in S8 of the liver. The central and peripheral areas of the lesion primarily exhibited fat density and hypodensity, respectively. MRI revealed a capsule-like structure. Biopsy was performed to address the probability of hepatocellular carcinoma. The lesion was pathologically confirmed as a myelolipoma. Bone marrow scintigraphy performed using ¹¹¹InCl₃ revealed accumulation of the radiopharmaceutical in the soft tissue component, except in the fat-dominant part of the tumor, as well as in the surrounding liver parenchyma due to the presence of reticuloendothelial cells in the liver.

This is the first report on the diagnosis of hepatic myelolipoma using ¹¹¹InCl₃ scintigraphy. The effectiveness of bone marrow scintigraphy for diagnosing hepatic myelolipoma might be limited. As radiopharmaceuticals accumulate in both hematopoietic and reticuloendothelial cells, the accumulation of radiopharmaceuticals in the lesion is obscure.