Beaver tail liver: an incidental but crucial anatomical variation in case of acute abdomen

Hiding Beaver Tail Liver: A Rare Anatomical Variant of the Liver

“…This unique anatomical feature, notable for its lateral spread potentially encasing adjacent organs such as the spleen, contributes to its descriptive nomenclature. BTL, also called the sliver of liver, is an anatomical variant where the left lobe elongates laterally to touch and wrap around the spleen [5].…”

“…Sometimes, patients come with nonspecific abdominal discomfort [6], while it may also present with acute abdomen [5], or fever, haematuria, renal stone, and splenomegaly [9,10], symptoms indicative of a urinary tract infection [11]. The left hepatic lobe, when hypertrophic, adopts a distinctive shape resembling a beaver's tail.…”

“…The BTL is more susceptible to injuries resulting from trauma to the lower left chest or the upper left quadrant of the abdomen [9]. The unusual shape of the liver could be confused with fluid collections that often suggest trauma or acute disease processes [2,5,6,9,18]. Anatomical variations such as the BTL can present challenges for emergency medicine physicians, surgeons, and radiologists, mainly if they are unaware of their existence [7,12].…”

“…BTL was coined due to its resemblance to a beaver's tail in shape and appearance. BTL is a rare anatomic variation where the left lobe of the liver encroaches to enclose the spleen [2,[5][6][7]. These variants can create challenges in accurately distinguishing between the liver and spleen in imaging, potentially leading to misdiagnosis [2,5,6].…”

“…BTL is a rare anatomic variation where the left lobe of the liver encroaches to enclose the spleen [2,[5][6][7]. These variants can create challenges in accurately distinguishing between the liver and spleen in imaging, potentially leading to misdiagnosis [2,5,6]. The condition is often found by chance in patients and can be misidentified as splenic trauma or a subcapsular hematoma [2,[5][6][7][8], and can create challenges in accurately distinguishing between the liver and spleen in imaging studies.…”