Song SB, Noh BG, Oh MH, Yoon M, Park YM, Seo HI, Hong SB, Kim S. Splenic hamartoma mimicking angiosarcoma: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(26): 107028 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i26.107028]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Byeong Gwan Noh, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, No. 179 Gudeok-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 49241, South Korea. sagerbk@naver.com
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Sep 16, 2025; 13(26): 107028 Published online Sep 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i26.107028
Splenic hamartoma mimicking angiosarcoma: A case report
Su-Bin Song, Byeong Gwan Noh, Myeong Hun Oh, Myunghee Yoon, Young Mok Park, Hyung-Il Seo, Seung Baek Hong, Suk Kim
Su-Bin Song, Byeong Gwan Noh, Myeong Hun Oh, Myunghee Yoon, Young Mok Park, Hyung-Il Seo, Department of Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, South Korea
Seung Baek Hong, Suk Kim, Department of Radiology, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 49241, South Korea
Author contributions: Song SB, Noh BG, Oh MH, Yoon M, Park YM, Seo HI, Hong SB, and Kim S contributed to the acquisition of data for this study; Song SB analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Noh BG designed the case. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Clinical Research Grant from Pusan National University Hospital in 2024.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent has been obtained from the patient.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Byeong Gwan Noh, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, No. 179 Gudeok-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 49241, South Korea. sagerbk@naver.com
Received: March 14, 2025 Revised: April 10, 2025 Accepted: May 29, 2025 Published online: September 16, 2025 Processing time: 132 Days and 4.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Primary splenic lesions are rare and often detected incidentally through imaging, biopsy, or autopsy, typically without distinct clinical symptoms. Although imaging can help differentiate benign from malignant lesions, splenic hamartomas, and angiosarcomas may exhibit overlapping features, making diagnosis challenging. This report presents a case of splenic hamartoma suspected to be an angiosarcoma based on preoperative imaging. Splenic hamartomas that mimic angiosarcomas are exceedingly rare.
CASE SUMMARY
A 33-year-old male presented to the Department of Emergency with frank red blood hematemesis and a 1-week history of epigastric pain. On arrival, he was alert and hemodynamically stable. Contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography revealed splenomegaly with significant engorgement of the portal and splenic veins, along with a diffuse nodular splenic lesion measuring 8.2 cm × 6.2 cm. Following esophageal varix ligation, abdominal magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated iso- to high-signal intensity within the splenic mass and multiple hypervascular lesions in the right hepatic lobe, raising suspicion for splenic angiosarcoma with hepatic metastases. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography showed diffusely mild increased metabolic activity in the spleen. The patient subsequently underwent splenectomy and liver biopsy. Histopathological examination revealed chronic inflammation in the liver, and the splenic lesion was confirmed to be a splenic hamartoma. The patient successfully returned to work and remains in good health.
CONCLUSION
This rare case of splenic hamartoma mimicking angiosarcoma highlights the importance of differential diagnosis in managing splenic tumors.
Core Tip: Splenic hamartomas are rare benign lesions that can closely mimic malignant tumors such as splenic angiosarcomas on imaging. We present a case initially suspected as splenic angiosarcoma with hepatic metastases, but histopathology after splenectomy confirmed splenic hamartoma. This rare case of splenic hamartoma mimicking angiosarcoma highlights the importance of differential diagnosis in managing splenic tumors.
