Primary hepatic angiosarcoma: A case report

Abstract

BACKGROUND Primary hepatic angiosarcoma (PHA) is a rare malignant tumor of the vascular endothelium. Clinical manifestations and laboratory and imaging examinations often lack specificity for PHA. We report a case of PHA, and describe the ultrasound characteristics and characteristic changes in laboratory values associated with PHA. CASE SUMMARY A 75-year-old woman presented with right upper quadrant abdominal pain for half a month. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at a local hospital revealed multiple liver space-occupying lesions, and she was admitted to our hospital for further diagnosis. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) revealed multiple slightly hyperechoic nodules in the liver, which were suspected to be of malignant vascular origin. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed multiple low-density nodules in the liver, considered to be metastatic hematopoietic malignancies. Contrast-enhanced MRI showed that the multiple liver nodules shared features with infectious lesions. Laboratory examination revealed normal alpha-fetoprotein levels, slightly increased other liver enzymes, decreased platelets, and significantly increased D-dimer levels. Liver biopsy and histopathology confirmed the presence of PHA. CONCLUSION CEUS can provide valuable clues for the diagnosis of PHA and greatly improve the success rate of puncture biopsy.

Ultrasonography, contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and contrast- enhanced computer tomography features of hepatic sarcomatoid carcinoma and hepatic sarcoma: a retrospective study of 23 cases

“…Both HS HSC are rare tumor with high malignancy and poor prognosis [1,5,11] In our study, we did not nd any signi cant difference between the two tumors in the tumor markers, such as AFP, CEA and CA1-99. This is consistent with previous ndings that tumor markers are non-speci c [11,12,14] .Meanwhile, we found signi cant differences between the hepatitis and cirrhotic backgrounds of the two tumor. In our study, 11 patients with HSC had 6 cases of hepatitis (54.5%) and 6 cases of cirrhosis (54.5%), while 12 patients with HS had 0 cases of hepatitis (0%) and 1 case of cirrhosis (8.3%).…”

“…They are unusual, featured with nonspeci c symptoms, and often present asymptomatic until they have become large, leading to a clinical dilemma. Clinically, asymptomatic, epigastric pain, bloating, anorexia, fatigue and weight loss are main symptoms of these two liver tumors [11][12][13][14] . It has been reported that HSC and HS are initially misdiagnosed as hepatic abscess, HCC, and malignant tumor (MT) by imaging [15][16][17][18] .…”