Objective: To document the imaging findings of hepatic cavernous hemangioma
detected in cirrhotic liver.
Materials and Methods: The imaging findings of 14 hepatic cavernous hemangiomas
in ten patients with liver cirrhosis were retrospectively analyzed. A diagnosis
of hepatic cavernous hemangioma was based on the findings of two or
more of the following imaging studies: MR, including contrast-enhanced dynamic
imaging (n = 10), dynamic CT (n = 4), hepatic arteriography (n = 9), and US (n =
10).
Results: The mean size of the 14 hepatic hemangiomas was 0.9 (range, 0.5
1.5) cm in the longest dimension. In 11 of these (79%), contrast-enhanced
dynamic CT and MR imaging showed rapid contrast enhancement of the entire
lesion during the early phase, and hepatic arteriography revealed globular
enhancement and rapid filling-in. On contrast-enhanced MR images, three
lesions (21%) showed partial enhancement until the 5-min delayed phases. US
indicated that while three slowly enhancing lesions were homogeneously hyperechoic,
9 (82%) of 11 showing rapid enhancement were not delineated.
Conclusion: The majority of hepatic cavernous hemangiomas detected in cirrhotic
liver are small in size, and in many, hepatic arteriography and/or contrastenhanced
dynamic CT and MR imaging demonstrates rapid enhancement. US,
however, fails to distinguish a lesion of this kind from its cirrhotic background.