Scintigraphic diagnosis of hepatic hemangioma: its role in the management of hepatic mass lesions

Hepatic cavernous hemangiomas are benign tumors of the liver that are often an incidental finding. They are usually asymptomatic but may cause symptoms when traumatized, may bleed spontaneously, or may produce pain by virtue of their large size and mass effect. A retrospective analysis of the clinical presentation, liver function tests, and diagnostic imaging procedures in 20 patients with hepatic hemangiomas is presented and the literature is reviewed. The 20 patients had 27 mass lesions as seen on liver scintigraphy, computed tomography, or sonography. Technetium-99m-labeled red blood cell flow studies and blood pool scintigrams showed delayed filling of the mass lesions, diagnostic of hemangiomas. This finding was not encountered in any other type of lesion. A new diagnostic algorithm is proposed in which blood-flow and blood-pool scintigraphy play a more prominent role in the diagnostic workup. According to this algorithm, if liver function tests in a patient with hepatic mass are either normal or abnormal and suggestive of hepatocellular dysfunction, the patient should undergo hepatic blood-flow and blood-pool studies.
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