Simultaneous occurrence of adenoma, focal nodular hyperplasia, and hemangioma of the liver: are they derived from a common origin?

The association between hepatic hemangioma (HH) and focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) or the association between FNH and hepatic adenoma (HA) has been reported. The authors report a case in which FNH, HH, and HA simultaneously appear in the liver. A 25-year-old woman was admitted to the Department of Surgery of the University of Catania (Italy), after presenting pain in the right hypocondrium. No therapy with oral contraceptives, no pregnancy and no abnormalities of the laboratory tests were found. Ultrasonography and computed tomography scans revealed four masses with the characteristics of HH, HA, FNH, and a hydatid cyst located, respectively, in segments II, IV, IV, and V of the liver. The surgical procedures performed were hemangioma and adenoma enucleation and en bloc resection of the FNH, hydatid cyst and gallbladder. No complications were recorded in the postoperative period and the patient was discharged from the hospital after 1 week. A pathological examination confirmed the preoperative diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge, the association of HH, FNH, and HA has never been reported. A common pathogenesis has clearly been demonstrated for hepatocytes and other cell types. The simultaneous presence of these three different kinds of tumor suggest that HH, FNH and HA could be the different expression of the same malformative anomaly. Copyright 2003 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd