Hepatic Angiosarcoma and Liver Transplantation: Case Report and Literature Review

Hepatic angiosarcoma is a rare malignant vascular tumor that accounts for up to 2% of all primary liver tumors. Accurate diagnosis of this tumor is difficult, especially if the patient has no history of exposure to specific carcinogens including thorotrast, arsenicals, and vinyl chloride monomer. Di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTransplantation proceedings Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 2195 - 2199
Main Authors Maluf, D., Cotterell, A., Clark, B., Stravitz, T., Kauffman, H.M., Fisher, R.A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2005
Subjects
Hemangiosarcoma - pathology
Hemangiosarcoma - surgery
Humans
Liver Neoplasms - pathology
Liver Neoplasms - surgery
Liver Transplantation
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
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Summary:Hepatic angiosarcoma is a rare malignant vascular tumor that accounts for up to 2% of all primary liver tumors. Accurate diagnosis of this tumor is difficult, especially if the patient has no history of exposure to specific carcinogens including thorotrast, arsenicals, and vinyl chloride monomer. Diagnosis of diffuse angiosarcoma by means of liver biopsy has been reported as treacherous and nondiagnostic. Herein, we present a case of a 61-year-old Caucasian male with history of cryptogenic cirrhosis, normal alpha-fetoprotein, and pretransplant abnormal liver MRI who underwent nondiagnostic liver biopsies followed by liver transplantation. High grade diffuse angiosarcoma was diagnosed in the explanted liver. The patient developed bone metastases at 8 months and is alive 1 year posttransplantation. Diffuse liver tissue infiltration seen pretransplant on CT scan or MRI, suggesting the possibility of diffuse liver lesions (HCC, angiosarcoma, etc) must be fully investigated with all techniques available including multiple open liver biopsies to avoid the sacrifice of a liver allograft in these patients.
ISSN:0041-1345
1873-2623
DOI:10.1016/j.transproceed.2005.03.060