The variable of hypertrophic changes in hepatic morphology: CT appearance.

The liver has a particular ability to regenerate and demonstrate hypertrophy under several circumstances. The aim of this essay is to illustrate the computed tomographic (CT) appearances of the hypertrophic changes in hepatic morphology and to focus on the broad spectrum of etiologies. One thousand seven hundred and twenty-one patients who had CT of the abdomen were retrospectively studied. One hundred and fifty-three (9% of them (82 men, 71 women), with a mean age of 50 years (range: 18 to 87 years), had hypertrophic changes in the liver. The different final diagnoses included liver cirrhosis (n = 75), Budd-Chiari syndrome (n = 35), partial hepatectomy (n = 25), cholangiocarcinoma (n = 10), liver metastasis (n = 1), preoperative portal vein embolization (n = 3), schistosomiasis (n = 1), and congenital hypertrophy (n = 3). Hypertrophic changes in hepatic morphology are not uncommon conditions and CT is likely to afford the opportunity to detect them. The discovery of such an abnormality must prompt the radiologist to eliminate the possibility of neoplastic etiology or underlying portal hypertension.