Sclerosed hemangioma of the liver: Report of a case and review of the literature

A sclerosed hemangioma of the liver is an extremely rare type of benign hepatic tumor. A 77-year-old female was referred to Tokushima University Hospital with fever, abnormal liver function tests and a large liver mass. The tumor, 10×5cm in size and located in segment 5-6 of the liver, was depicted as a low density tumor with enhancement by computed tomography (CT). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed it to be a tumor with a low signal on T1-weighted and a high signal on T2-weighted images. The patient was negative for hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis C antibody. She underwent a right hepatectomy for possible malignant liver tumors, including intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma or fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma. The following histological examination of the surgical specimen revealed the tumor to be a hepatic sclerosed hemangioma with characteristic dense collagenous tissues. We report here on the case of this unusual tumor and review the relevant literature.