liver cysts

[etphonehome]

My pain is in the upper left rib cage area, have had ultrasound for suspected hernia, there is nothing, dr. phoned yesterday to tell me that I have a small liver cyst on the right front lobe of my liver so today I went for blood tests.  Should I be worried about this liver cyst, do not know anyone that has ever had one and what about this upper left pain that is constantly there.  Had my gallbladder out 6 years ago. Aanybody out there have a liver cyst.  Thanks so much.

[collie]

Hi you commented on my problem I have never heard o anyone with them my cat scan show mant hepatic cysts on my liver but the dr said I should not have pain from them. Well I do and I go see him again on April 30th I am sick of test and the pain is unbearable most of the time. I have one question for you do you smoke I do an some times it hurts whan I do but it hurts al of the time so I am not sure if it is that. Please respond some day. Thanks

[etphonehome]

Yes I am a smoker, I had quit for 2 years and then started up again 10 months ago.  Funny you should ask that as I was just thinking yesterday that it seems my health has gotten worse since I started again.  Sometimes like you say it feels worse when smoking but it also feels worse drinking something too hot, you have that?

[mpwheatley]

Hi.  My mother was diagnosed with a liver cyst in December after suddenly suffering from intolerable upper abdominal pain and a jaundiced appearance.  The result was that she had to have key-hole surgery six weeks later to drain the cyst and have a 'panel' cut out of it so the fluid would simply be absorbed by the body rather than re-fill the cyst.  Amazingly, the cyst contained about twelve pints of fluid, which was the largest the surgeon had ever seen.  She had to take two weeks off work to recover from the surgery with no driving or house-work during the recuperation period.  She has recently had her three-month check up by the doctor and was given the all-clear and is now leading a 100% normal life again, with no pain at all.  Apparantly about five percent of the population have liver cysts and they are not normally anything to worry about.  They usually only need surgical treatment if they are causing pain or become so large that they put physical pressure on the liver and therefore hinder its function.  A CT scan is needed to determine the size of the cyst.  Even if you need key-hole surgery, for a small cyst the operation normally takes about 45 minutes and the patient can normally be discharged from hospital within a couple of days.  From what I've learnt, most liver cysts are harmless and are often years old before they are discovered. Most are left where they are, unless they are causing pain.

[etphonehome]

Thanks so much for your mothers story.  That was great information to get and it helps to put my mind at ease.  My question is did the cyst show up that large on the catscan or did they only discover the size of it when they performed surgery?

[mpwheatley]

Hi.  They only discovered the real size of it during surgery, although I think the CT scan did give them an idea.  I think that the size of a cyst doesn't show up so well in an ultrasound scan or CT scan because a it isn't solid, like tissue or bone.  Even with a huge cyst like my mother's (you would think a twelve pint cyst would show up during diagnostic tests) the surgical team was surprised by its size.  At no time during the tests was my mother told that it was that big, I think they said it would be about a pint or so.  Prior to the time when she started to suffer from the intolerable pain, the only symptom she showed was unusual weight gain, which was really noticeable around the midrift area when she sat down (she almost looked pregnant!) .  

I hope that you get good treatment soon and I am sure that within no time at all you will be back to normal with no pain.  Even if it is a large cyst the surgical procedure is straightforward and quick and recovery time is relatively rapid.  

Good Luck, Martin.

[marielump]

A related discussion, How can I loose weight after a liver deroofing? was started.