Hepatic Pseudolymphoma with Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake on Positron Emission Tomography

Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2017 Dec 21;10(3):826-835. doi: 10.1159/000481936. eCollection 2016 Sep-Dec.

Abstract

A 69-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis B was admitted to our hospital with a hepatic tumor. The levels of 2 tumor markers, carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9, were slightly elevated; however, the α-fetoprotein and protein levels induced by vitamin K antagonist II were within the normal limits. Abdominal ultrasonography showed a well-defined peripheral hypoechoic mass that was isoechoic and homogeneous on the inside. Computed tomography showed a poorly enhanced tumor of 13 mm in diameter in the 5th segment of the liver. Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography showed a slight uptake (maximum standard uptake value 3.4) by the hepatic tumor. These findings suggested cholangiocellular carcinoma, and we performed anterior segmentectomy of the liver. A histopathological examination showed a hepatic pseudolymphoma. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and she remains alive without recurrence 5 months after undergoing surgery. In most cases, hepatic pseudolymphoma is preoperatively diagnosed as a malignant tumor and a definite diagnosis is made after resection. It is therefore necessary to consider hepatic pseudolymphoma as a differential diagnosis in patients with hepatic tumors.

Keywords: Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography; Hepatectomy; Liver; Pseudolymphoma; Reactive lymphoid hyperplasia.

Publication types

  • Case Reports