[Indications and results of surgical treatment of cavernous hemangioma of the liver].

Abstract

Over a period of 6.5 years, 29 patients with liver hemangiomas have been examined. In 8 patients, the most frequent symptom was pain; in 11, a tumor was found. The diagnosis was made by means of scintigraphy with 99mTc, followed by real-time sonography, computed tomography using a contrast medium, and selective arteriography. In 16 patients (15 women, 1 man), the tumor radius was more than 6 cm and in 9 of these, more than 10 cm. In 3 patients, a left lobectomy was carried out, and in 5 a right lobectomy; in an additional 5 patients, a extended right lobectomy (three segments excised) was done. In the rest, a medial lobectomy, a segmentectomy on the left side, or a segmentectomy on the right was performed. The only complications observed in the whole series were: pleural effusion (1 case), subphrenic abscess (1), and transitory biliary fistula (1). All hemangiomas with a radius of more than 10 cm should be removed operatively, as should smaller symptomatic hemangiomas and tumors that are not clearly benign.