Solitary Necrotic Nodule of the Liver: A Benign Mimicker of Malignancy

Solitary necrotic nodule (SNN) of the liver is an uncommon and benign finding in liver pathology. Typically, it appears as a single and asymptomatic lesion, primarily located at the subcapsular region of the right lobe of the liver. Unfortunately, it is easy to mistake this benign lesion for a primary or secondary neoplastic lesion, making it a potential diagnosis pitfall for liver malignancies. The diagnosis of SNN can be difficult to determine as the imaging findings frequently lack specificity. This brings out the importance of histomorphological examination to accurately identify this lesion, and to rule out any possible malignancies. We report here the case of a 35-year-old woman with a history of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, who presented a solitary nodule on her liver that was falsely diagnosed as a metastatic lesion in the liver at imagery. The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of using special stains and immunohistochemical staining for diagnosing SNN and excluding any necrotic metastases of the liver. We demonstrated that the absence of a reticulin meshwork in the necrotic core should prompt consideration of a necrotic metastasis in the liver, rather than a solitary necrotic nodule.