liver hemangiomas

[Mscilla]

I'm a 41 yr old female and have just had an ultrasound with a diagnosis of hemangioma of the liver. The drs. office called me and said that they are sure that it is a hemangioma and not cancer because they looked at an old cat scan and it didn't show up on it. I have been researching liver hemangiomas since they told me this a couple of days ago and there are alot of pictures of hemangiomas on catscans on the internet. Also my mother died of liver cancer 3 yrs ago and they never did find out where the primary cancer started from. Should I try to get them to do more test to make sure that it is a hemangioma and not cancer?

[mannylal]

I recently went to the doctor for an ultra sound. This is what the radiologist said verbatim - within the liver there are five discreet intensely echogenic well defined focal nodules ranging in size up to 32 mm involving the right and left lobes. These are all typical of hemagiomas. The liver is otherwise normal. Do i need follow up? Is there a chance it could be cancer?

[mannylal]

I recently went to the doctor for an ultra sound. This is what the radiologist said verbatim - within the liver there are five discreet intensely echogenic well defined focal nodules ranging in size up to 32 mm involving the right and left lobes. These are all typical of hemagiomas. The liver is otherwise normal. Do i need follow up? Is there a chance it could be cancer?

[Daphne74]

I've been reading everyones comments to try and get answers to some of my own questions that none of my doctors have been able to answer for me. I was diagnosed with FNH 5 years ago and was told it was induced by hormones. Been off the pill over 5 years now and have been having severe abdominal pain. Had ultrasound and CT scan done with alot of lab work. Not only has my tumor grown but i have multiple more along with lesions and cysts on my liver and kidney stones. A specialist told me and can't tell anything til he goes in to see whats going on cause I shouldnt have pain. I understand his point there but have a hard time understanding why they are growing. I went to pick up my lab work today and my CA 19-9 was really high so i'm concerned about that because of what i've read online but one again no answers from doctors cause of the holidays everyone is on vacation. Does anyone have any advice or info they can share with me to help ease my mind?

[Mscilla]

I pray that your CT went well for you. Have they decided what they are going to do?

[Laurel214]

I am having a ct scan tomorrow morning. I have persistent stomach pain below my ribs. The ultra sound showed what looks like  giant hepatic hemangioma .  My dr wants  a ct to rule out cancer.  I am stilll worried about the outcome.  Right now I am trying to drink this bottle of white chalky barium.

[Mscilla]

I forgot to add another reason that I had the ultrasound to begin with is that when I was having all the stomach problems I did blood test and also the little cards for the stool samples and my Dr. sent me to the gastro Dr. because all of those samples were positive for blood.

[Mscilla]

I am so thankful for all your help and suggestions. I am having to go back to my regu. MD to get sent ofr more test. I don't know why the gastro dr. didn't ask for more. But the reason that they did the ultrasound at first was because I was having alot of stomach problems. Bad reflux and switching back and forth from diarrhea to constipation. He also did a upper and lower gi and removed polyps from colon and thank the Lord they were benign. But they weren't there last year when he did the same tests for the same reason. Now I am encouraged the more that I get comments from you that maybe this is just a hemangioma and not some other tumor, but with my mom losing her life and never having anything checked, I will be more diligent. Thank you all.

[karensuemac]

Thank you for helping me understand this more. I wonder why an ultrasound was not done on me in the beginning of all this. Maybe my lesions are atypical. When I had my second biopsy, the sonograper said they did look like hemangiomas. So maybe all those tests were unnecessary. Now I'm off to find out what a tagged red cell scan is. Thank you so much.

[lizard63]

I'm a sonographer & have been for the last 23 yrs. If they have a classic sonographic appearance for hemangioma based on echotexture as well as location, then you can be absolutely sure that is what they are. Size doesn't really have anything to do with knowing what type of lesion it is. If they are atypical in appearance & especially if they're multiple on top of that, then you can't be sure that they're not metastases. I'm surprised that they didn't do a tagged red cell scan in your case as that will usually be the definitive scan when the others are not.

[karensuemac]

What symptoms made you have an ultrasound? Did they tell you what size the hemangioma is. I have multiple ones all less than 2 cm. I have been searching the internet for months and I gather that if they are less than 4 or 5 cm, then they are not worrisome at all. They just need to be monitored. Big ones are called giant hemangiomas. Sometimes surgery is needed if they are giant hemangiomas. I just joined this forum and left my first post about my liver hemangiomas diagnosis. It's strange how you were told hemangioma from just an ultrasound. I was put through all kinds of testing but maybe because mine are multiple (which is probably why they thought my lesions were metastatic cancer). Also, I think because mine are so small it was more difficult to tell by imaging whether it was cancer or hemangiomas. I'm 49 and had to quit taking hormone replacement therapy because it is believed but not proven that estrogens can make hemangiomas enlarge, which is not good. From what I gather from my research, this condition is very common in women in their 40's and up. I have had no symptoms and mine were found incidentally from a cat scan for something else.This diagnos is happening more often nowadays because of improved imaging technology. Also I've read that liver hemangiomas are probably present since birth. I hope this helps you some and I wish you the best.

[Vajra]

My understanding is that a good ultrasound tech can make a strong tentative diagnosis of hemangioma, but that for a definitive diagnoses you need an MRI with contrast.  The contrast will fill in the blood vessels insight the hemangioma and distinguish it from a cancerous mass.  I CT scan with triple contrast is almost as good as an MRI.
for peace of mind (especially given your family history) I would insist on the follow up tests.  If you google this you will get the percentages of certainty for each type of test (ultrasound, CT scan, MRI) for diagnosing hepatic hemangioma and you will see that the CT and MRI far surpass the ultrasound.
all best to you and hope the scan gives you peace of mind.