Hepatic resection for cavernous hemangiomas of the liver

In this report, we evaluate the indications of, and present our recent strategy for, cavernous hemangioma of the liver. Seven patients with cavernous hemangiomas of the liver, who underwent hepatic resection were enrolled in this study. The lesions were located in the right lobe in 3 patients, the left lobe in 2, and in both the right and left lobes in 2. The longest diameter of the lesions ranged from 1.4 to 14.5 cm (mean, 8.2 cm). The indications for hepatic resection were symptomatic lesions in 3 patients, lesions suspected to be hepatocellular carcinoma in 2, and symptomatic and growing lesions during follow-up in 2. Right lobectomy was performed in 2 patients, left lobectomy with caudate lobectomy in 1 patient, and minor hepatic resection in the other 4 patients. One of the patients who underwent minor hepatic resection had recently received laparoscopy-assisted hepatic resection and one of the three patients who received transfusion during surgery was given an autotransfusion. There were no mortality, and morbidity was minimal. In conclusion, hepatic resection, including laparoscopy-assisted procedures, was considered a safe treatment. Hepatic resection for cavernous hemangioma should be performed only in patients with moderate to severe symptoms, complicated lesions or both, because most benign lesions have a good natural course. Furthermore, in the future, less invasive surgical procedures should be used whenever possible to treat these benign liver tumors.