Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2005. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 21, 2005; 11(27): 4281-4284
Published online Jul 21, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i27.4281
Metastatic liver cancer: A rare case
Bong-Wan Kim, Hee-Jung Wang, In-Ho Jeong, Sang-Ick Ahn, Myoung-Wook Kim
Bong-Wan Kim, Hee-Jung Wang, In-Ho Jeong, Sang-Ick Ahn, Myoung-Wook Kim, Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Hee-Jung Wang, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, Ajou University School of Medicine, San-5 Youngtong ku, Wonchon dong, Suwon 442-749, South Korea. wanghj@ajou.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-31-219-5011 Fax: +82-31-219-5755
Received: November 29, 2004
Revised: January 1, 2005
Accepted: January 5, 2005
Published online: July 21, 2005
Abstract

Hemangiopericytoma is a rare tumor especially when it rises in the peritoneal cavity. We present a case of a 60-year-old woman with an isolated recurrent hemangiopericytoma of the liver. The patient presented with a palpable right upper quadrant abdominal mass, which occurred 7 years after undergoing resection of a malignant hemangiop-ericytoma arising from the greater omentum. She had not followed up 6 mo after surgery. Various imaging studies showed a single large, well-capsulated liver tumor with central necrosis, accompanied by hypervascularity typical of a vascular tumor. Preoperative laboratory HBsAg and anti-HCV workup were both negative. Under the impression of recurrent malignant hemangiopericytoma, right triseg-mentectomy was performed to completely resect the tumor. Pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of recurrent hemangiopericytoma. Even though the incidence of the hemangiopericytoma is relatively low, malignant hemangiopericytoma has a tendency to recur frequently after a long-term disease-free interval. Also, the recurrent hemangiopericytoma is not easily detected early during follow-up until it becomes symptomatic because there are no specific tumor markers, and because of the diversity with regard to site of recurrence. The authors suggest that Positron Emission Tomogram (PET) may be a useful tool for the detection of recurrent hemangiopericytoma. We describe herein some characteristics and behaviors of malignant hemangiopericytoma, particularly after surgical resection.

Keywords: Hemangiopericytoma; Greater omentum; Hepatic metastasis; Follow-up; Positron emission tomography