Should Radiology Reporting Change Surgeon's Indication for Surgery in Cases of Hepatic Cyst?

Abstract

Background: Aim of the study is to correlate radiology reports and histology by conducting a retrospective analysis of patients with hepatic cyst Methods: We analyzed the clinical, radiologic and histopathologic data of patients operated for cystic lesion in the liver between Jan'18-Dec'20. Results: 20 patients were included in the study. CT/MRI of 6(30%) patients were reported as biliary cystadenoma and 13(65%) were reported as simple hepatic cyst and 1(5%) had a diagnosis of cystic HCC. Out of the 6 cases reported as biliary cystadenoma, 5(83%) were reported on MRI and 1(16%) on CT scan. 18 out of 20 patients(90%) had intraoperative finding of a simple liver cyst and the patients underwent cyst wall fenestration demonstrative of clear fluid. 1(5%) had a finding of HCC, so non-anatomical liver resection was performed. Histopathology in 18 of all the operated cases was conclusive of benign hepatic cystic lesion from the cyst wall biopsy. Four of the 20 cases, (20%) were asymptomatic and out of these 4 cases, 3(75%) were initially reported as cystadenoma which ultimately turned out to be simple liver cyst on final pathology. One patient reported as simple cyst turned out to be cystadenoma on histopathology In this series the radiologic diagnosis of cystadenoma lead to unnecessary surgical intervention in 3 out of 4(75%) of patients with asymptomatic liver cyst. Conclusion: Increasingly utilized ‘rule out diagnosis of biliary cystadenoma’ in patients with a simple hepatic cyst creates anxiety for the patient and can lead to unnecessary surgery in asymptomatic patients.