2008 Volume 67 Issue 4 Pages 238-241
Hepatic angiomyolipoma (AML) is an uncommon benign mesenchymal tumor of the liver. Most AMLs of the liver are asymptomatic and are discovered incidentally, but the diagnosis remains difficult. We report a case of a 33-year-old woman who had an abdominal mass and in whom diagnosis remained unidentified after imaging and needle biopsy. On dynamic CT, a heterogeneous enhanced hepatic lesion was revealed in the arterial phase with washout in the portal phase. On MRI, it was shown as a hypointense tumor on T1 weighted images and hyperintense on T2 weighted images. Because hepatocellular carcinoma was suspected as a result of the needle biopsy, hepatic segmentectomy was performed. The final pathological diagnosis was AML due to positive HMB45. AML needs to be considered as a condition that may display the atypical images consistent with liver tumor. In cases such as this, we should request the examination of immunohistochemical staining especially for HMB45 on biopsy specimens.
