Cavernous hemangiomas of lungs and liver in an asymptomatic girl.

We describe a 15-year-old asymptomatic girl with multiple pulmonary nodules which turned out to be cavernous hemangiomas. The radiological findings of other organs revealed no abnormalities, excluding the liver, where multiple low-density areas were located. Thoracoscopy and laparoscopy revealed cavernous hemangiomas of the lung and liver. While liver cavernous hemangiomas are common, pulmonary hemangiomas are fairly rare. Although cavernous hemangiomas are classified as malformations, some of these lesions have been reported to grow. In pulmonary hemangiomas, some cases have an inexorable clinical course with hemoptysis, respiratory distress, and heart failure. In our case, the lesions have not remarkably progressed under observation for more than 2 years. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel