Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 16, 2016; 4(8): 243-247
Published online Aug 16, 2016. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i8.243
Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumor: A case report and literature review
Jeong Eun Song, Byung Seok Kim, Chang Hyeong Lee
Jeong Eun Song, Byung Seok Kim, Chang Hyeong Lee, Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu 42472, South Korea
Author contributions: Song JE collected the patient’s clinical data and wrote the paper; Kim BS and Lee CH designed the report.
Institutional review board statement: This case report was exempt from the Institutional review board standards at the Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine.
Informed consent statement: The patient involved in this study gave his verbal informed consent authorizing use and disclosure of his protected health information.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: 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/
Correspondence to: Chang Hyeong Lee, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, 33, Duryugongwon-ro 17-gil, Nam-gu, Daegu 42472, South Korea. chlee1@cu.ac.kr
Telephone: +82-53-6504043 Fax: +82-53-6563281
Received: February 12, 2016
Peer-review started: February 14, 2016
First decision: March 30, 2016
Revised: April 24, 2016
Accepted: May 17, 2016
Article in press: May 27, 2016
Published online: August 16, 2016
Processing time: 181 Days and 23.2 Hours
Abstract

Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors (PHNETs) are extremely rare and difficult to distinguish from other liver tumors, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma, based on medical imaging findings. A 70-year-old man was referred for evaluation of liver mass incidentally discovered on abdominal computed tomography. The characteristic finding from dynamic liver magnetic resonance imaging led to a diagnosis of HCC. The patient underwent right hepatectomy. Histopathological and immunohistochemical examination revealed grade 2 neuroendocrine tumor. The postoperative 24-h urinary excretion of 5-hydroxy-indolacetic acid was within the normal range. Further imaging investigations were performed. No other lesions were found making probable the diagnosis of PHNET. This case shows that the diagnosis of PHNET is a medical challenge, requiring differentiation of PHNETs other hepatic masses and exclusion of occult primary neuroendocrine tumors. The diagnosis of PHNET can be ascertained after long term follow-up to exclude another primary origin.

Keywords: Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumor; Neuroendocrine tumor; Liver; Hepatocelluar carcinoma

Core tip: Primary hepatic neuroendocrine tumors (PHNETs) are extremely rare and difficult to diagnose before preoperative biopsy or surgery. This case report shows that the diagnosis of PHNET is a medical challenge. Thus differentiation of PHNET from other hepatic mass and exclusion of occult primary neuroendocrine tumors are necessary. The diagnosis of PHNET can be ascertained after long term follow-up to exclude another primary origin.