Prenatal sonographic diagnosis of fetal hepatic hemangioma

Although hepatic hemangioma represents the most common tumor of the liver during childhood, the prenatal diagnosis of this condition has been rarely reported in the literature. In this report, we describe a case of hepatic hemangioma presenting as a small hyperechogenic mass (1.1 x 0.9 cm) in the fetal liver in which the diagnosis was made at 33 weeks' gestation by ultrasound. Subsequent postnatal evaluation by Doppler ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis and follow-up examinations have documented its spontaneous regression. The prenatal diagnosis of a liver mass allows not only the evaluation of changes in size or pattern of the mass itself during pregnancy but also its prompt evaluation after birth.