I have liver and spinal hemangiomas....and told basically what everyone else here was told, benign and not USUALLY a problem.
I love their generalizations!!
I have several massive hemangiomas. They were discovered in 2001during an ultrasounds. They have grown considerably and have taken over my entire liver. I am now on the transplant list. There is not enough liver left to save. If I do nothing I will likely go into liver failure or they will rupture.
They noted a hemangioma on liver during one of my MRI's last summer. No one has mentioned it and I don't seem to have any related (if any exist) symptoms. Seems like a non-event.
Kylw
Hey Stacie,
I have multiple hemangiomas in my liver, of various sizes. The first ones were seen some 25 years ago, when I started out in Ultrasound. The others have been seen as years passed and technology improved.
Usually people have one or two hemangiomas - it is pretty unusual to have alot of them like I do. Whenever I have any abdominal imaging done, I have to warn them ahead of time, because otherwise the radiologists would freak out about all the "masses" ... ;-)
Hemangiomas are most often an incidental finding, when a patient has an Ultrasound, MRI or CT for some other reason. The CT is usually the defining test if they are unsure if something really is a hemangioma or not. When they inject the dye during the CT and take some immediate images, a hemangioma will take up the dye in a characteristic way.
From what I understand, hemangiomas are usually just something you are born with. I have one in one of my spinal vertebrae also. They tend not to grow or change much over the years, but that can occasionally happen.
They usually do not cause any problems with the functioning of the liver, and they usually don't cause any symptoms - unless one would become large or be in a position that would put pressure on one of the veins or bile ducts in the liver. Those things are pretty rare, though.
The symptoms you describe do not sound like something that would normally be related to hemagiomas. Have you spoken to or seen your doctor recently? I totally agree with JJ - I would push to find out what is causing your pain and bloating. That way they can figure out what is really going on, and make you feel better...
Rita
Hi Stacie,
About 6 years I had 2 blood clots. 1 near my ovary and a very dangerous one in my superior mesentart artery.
Anyway, I was told I had a liver hemangioma during that time, that aw coincidentally found during the MRI. They told me, I think, that it was an incidental finding and not to worry.
This is pretty much what I remember...was a while ago.
Michelle
Hey Stacie,
Personally NO and i dont know a thing about this condition but um logic sort of dictates that if "hemoangiomas do not cause pain or symptoms" then what your experiencing isn't related to that dx. Though on the other hand, how exactly did they establish that you had hemoangiomas in the first place or what caused them to develope?
A lot of these sx could fall into IBS, Gerd, think gastric, food allergy like gluten, lactose etc but the foot drop or verigo doesn't, well i did read something about celiac disease causing these types of things too but i dont think thats been 'fully' established by reseach methods, so a possible maybe lol
A wise owl resently said that one of the best things to do is to ask your doctor, "If not xx, what else could explain this" so if your now experiencing these sx, then maybe you need to 'push' your dr into finding the 'right' answer instead of 'no' answer.
Cheers.........JJ