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A retrospective study was undertaken to reassess the various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS). MRI examinations of 22 patients with pathologically confirmed BCS were studied. Spin-echo (SE) T1- (TR = 300-450 ms/TE = 12-15 ms), and SE T2-weighted (TR = 1600-2000 ms/TE = 30-60/90-120 ms) MRI images were obtained in all patients. Gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) images (TR = 7-60 ms/TE = 3-19 ms, flip angle = 10-40 degrees) were obtained in 14 patients. MRI showed thrombosis of three or two hepatic veins in 19 (86%) and 3 (14%) patients, respectively. Spontaneous intrahepatic anastomoses was depicted in five (23%) patients. Ascites appeared in 15 patients (68%). Thrombosis or external compression of the inferior vena cava (IVC) by an enlarged caudate lobe was depicted in six (27%) and five (23%) patients, respectively. Prominent azygos and hemiazygos veins were demonstrated in seven (32%) patients (six of whom had thrombosis of the IVC). MRI showed hepatomegaly in all patients and enlarged caudate lobe in 18 (82%) patients. SE T1- and SE T2-weighted MRI images revealed inhomogeneous signal intensity of hepatic parenchyma in 14 (64%) patients. SE T1- and SE T2-weighted MRI images showed homogeneous signal intensity of hepatic parenchyma in eight (36%) patients. Our results demonstrate that BCS displays various features on MRI images, and such information is important for diagnosis.

We report the diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic features of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in eight patients in whom the disease was seen as a primary tumor of the liver. This series illustrates the variety of situations in which lymphoma might be diagnosed: (a) abdominal pain and hepatomegaly (three cases), (b) incidental finding at evaluation of a patient with cirrhosis (two cases), (c) secondary neoplasm after treatment for Hodgkin's disease (one case) and (d) complication of AIDS (two cases). In most cases, clinical and/or radiological features were nonspecific. However, the combination of the following features must be considered as suggestive: occurrence of an apparently primary hepatic tumor in an immunocompromised patient, absence of the usual serum tumor markers and increased serum lactic dehydrogenase activity. The final diagnosis was based on histological examination of specimens obtained by ultrasonically guided liver biopsies or at surgery. All cases belonged to unfavorable histological subtypes. Immunohistochemical findings on paraffin-embedded sections demonstrated the B-lymphocyte lineage of the seven tumors available for study. In the three patients without coexisting disease, complete remission was obtained by surgery alone or combined with chemotherapy. In the two patients with coexisting cirrhosis, outcome was rapidly unfavorable, with death occurring less than 3 mo after diagnosis. Among the three immunocompromised patients, two experienced a rapid unfavorable outcome, and the remaining one was in complete remission after surgery and chemotherapy. In conclusion, primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the liver arising in patients without coexisting disease has a slow progression and might be successfully treated by surgery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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The sonographic studies of 72 patients with pathologically proven Hodgkin's or non-Hodgkin's hepatic lymphoma were retrospectively reviewed. Sixty-eight patients (94%) had secondary hepatic lymphoma (nine of them had AIDS-related lymphoma) and four patients (6%) had primary lymphoma of the liver. Forty-six of 72 patients (64%) had diffuse hepatic involvement, and 26 of 72 patients (36%) had focal liver lesions as demonstrated by sonography. Four patterns of disease were identified: (a) hepatomegaly was depicted by sonography in 26 of the 59 patients with secondary hepatic lymphoma not related to AIDS, in two of the nine patients with AIDS-related secondary hepatic lymphoma, and in one of the four patients with primary hepatic lymphoma; (b) multiple rounded well-delineated hypoechoic liver lesions were found in 22 of the 68 patients with secondary hepatic lymphoma; (c) a large heterogeneous echoic mass, which was an evocating clue to the diagnosis of primary lymphoma of the liver, was found in the four patients with primary lymphoma of the liver; and (d) an absence of sonographic abnormalities was found in 20 of the 59 patients with secondary lymphoma not related to AIDS. Liver involvement with lymphoma should be considered in any patient who develops multiple homogeneous hypoechoic liver masses, even in the absence of known underlying lymphomatous disease.