Mesenchymal hamartoma of the liver: Report of a case and review of the literature

Abstract

Mesenchymal hamartoma of the liver (MHL) is an uncommon benign hepatic tumor typically affecting children under 2 years of age. We report a case of a teenage woman was admitted to our hospital due to an upper abdominal pain. Laboratory examination including alpha-fetoprotein was unremarkable. Abdominal CT showed a giant solid tumor with fluid components with a maximum dimension of 15 cm in the right lobe of the liver. We performed core needle biopsy. Under diagnosis of MHL, right hepatectomy was performed in consideration of malignant transformation. The final pathological diagnosis was MHL. MHL has traditionally been regarded as a benign tumor without malignant potential, however, several reports have highlighted an association between MHL and undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma (UES). Especially, risk of malignancy in teens was higher than other ages. We should consider a risk of malignancy in such kind of tumor.