Giant Liver Hemangiomas 12+cm Surgery or Not?

[Cathie777]

I was diagnoised (FINALLY!!!) with a giant liver hemangioma after 5yrs of going to the doctor. My GI doctor said to just continue monitoring it and it continued to grow just in the first 6 months from size of baseball to size of a melon. He said it was more dangerous to remove it, and to just leave it in. I looked at him kind of puzzled and asked, "Am I then just to live with these symptoms?" So he then said well maybe we should send you to a specialist who said the exact opposite. That it needs to be surgerically removed as obviously its growing and the longer I wait the more complicated the surgery will be. I could go into heart failure, and if I just let it go I might eventually need a liver transplant. Surgery- Chevron Incision 24"-30" straight down entire stomach and then all the way off to my right hip. Very invasive (and scary). Was told USC could do it less invasively.
Trying to find info from people who've had this surgery and what it was like and if it really did help?
Also interested in comparing others symptoms.
But I am confused, still being told different things.....that I should have the surgery, and that I should not, that its more dangerous. So when should someone have surgery for these giant hemangiomas???



This discussion is related to liver hemangiomas.

[Cathie777]

If you are having a liver biopsy, its is probably not a liver hemangioma.

As stated before:...

In general, a biopsy of suspected hemangiomas is avoided because of their benign nature and the potential risk of bleeding from the biopsy.

[xyun08]

Hi everyone

Quite shocking to read that so many people actually have hemangioma in their liver. My mom went for ultrasound and eventually ct scan 1.5 yrs ago to monitor her hep b status. My aunt had just passed away from liver cancer then. Was scared stiff when we discovered she has a lesionin her liver. But that turned out to be a hemangioma.

Few weeks ago she did a follow- up ultrasound and they discovered one more lesion this time. She has elevated ALT too. Will be going for a MRI tomorrow, I am really really worried seeing how my aunt suffered from liver cancer. Can someone tell me if it is possible to develop hemangioma within a year? The ultrasound says this lesion has no internal vascularity. I googled this and it says 75% of benign tumors have no vascularity. I am praying that it is the same diagnosis this time hemangioma and not something else.....

[nbelzile]

cathie777 and Marleigh46

February 8th is our appointment for the Liver Biopsy. Still waiting for HFE test to come back but reply is expected feb 18th only...I am thinking of posting in the Professional Forum with complete tests results. Have you tried that and is it worth it?  

[Marleigh46]

Hi,

He's actually an advanced laparoscopic doctor and teaches others in India and China. He's one of the top docs that removes these Hamangiomaa laparoscopically. I even watched on of his videos...yuck! It will be done that way. :) I believe I would be opened up if they found cancer or something due to not disturbing the cells. I do not have it so it should all be good. Wow! Glad you're doing okay with that much of our liver removed. How long until you were up and able to function?

[Cathie777]

Oh I hate to say this, but I do not like that your doctor told you he will "try" and do it laproscopically. As that means he hasnt really had the training to do it that way, as its very different procedure, not just "trying" to make smaller incisions.

You want to go to someone who specializes in... and ONLY removes them laparoscopically. As its different procedure all together. They make smaller incisions, and go in and clamp off the blood supply to the hemangioma, drain all the blood out of it, which makes them able to remove them through smaller incisions.

I had a liver surgeon tell me he could "try" also to do it laproscopically also, but he was just going to try and make smaller incisions to remove them AS THEY WERE.

Im sorry but I would not take the random undetermined chance to wake up with a chevron incision which goes from your breast bone to your pelvic bone and then over to your right hip. Not to mention the recovery time is a lot more. I was told 6 months to a year to really get back to any kind of "normal" state....and with going through the less invasive surgery I can believe that even more. As its was a long slow hard recovery process for me. I had 3/4s of my liver removed, by a specialist laproscopically. Its was a hardest surgery and recovery Ive ever had to go through ...and I have been through a lot. With that, I would do it again in a heart beat though which how much better I feel.

[nbelzile]

Thanks I will keep you posted very soon. It's good to feel the support of other people in the same situation. :) x