Hepatic Angiomyolipoma: Report of a Case

Abstract

Angiomyolipoma, a not uncommon tumor of the kidney, is a rare category in hepatic tumors. The following case report presented with a patient with hepatic angiomyolipoma. This 25-year-old Taiwanese woman, without past history of viral hepatitis nor familial history of tuberous sclerosis, presented to us with intermittent, right upper quadrant abdominal pain. She had taken oral contraceptives for two years about two years previously. Her grandfather and uncle died of liver tumors. Physical examination and blood chemical studies disclosed nothing abnormal. Abdominal sonography, however, revealed an echogenic tumor measuring 2.6×2.5 cm in size at the subcapsular area of the anterosuperior segment of right lobe of the liver with a nodular echolucency in the central area of the tumor. Abdominal computerized tomography and hepatic angiography both confirmed such a space-occupying lesion. Laparotomy was employed for biopsy specimens to exclude malignancy. Right lobectomy of liver was performed because of undetermined nature from the frozen section of the tumor during the operation. After pathological examination of the resected tumor measuring 3.5×3.0×2.7 cm in size, angiomyolipoma was diagnosed. The patient has remained stable and symptom-free since operation. So far as we know, this is the first case of hepatic angiomyolipoma reported in Taiwan.