Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy of liver hemangiomas: three-year experience

ABSTRACT

In patients with atypical hemangiomas who have inconclusive imaging features, performing other diagnostic procedures, especially biopsy, is indicated. Bleeding is the most feared complication due to the high vascular nature of hemangioma. The objective of this study was to present our experience on ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy of liver hemangiomas. We carried out ultrasound-guided core needle biopsies in 443 patients with focal hepatic lesions of whom 32 were subsequently diagnosed as having cavernous hemangiomas. Biopsies were done using a 16-18 G cutting needle at Mashhad Imam Reza Hospital and Isfahan Baharestan Hospital during 2004-07. The mean age of patients with hemangioma was 49.3 years [F/M = 2/1]. The lesions were 0.8-14 [mean 6.5] cm long. 13 patients had multiple [2-10] lesions; others had solitary lesions with atypical imaging features. We did not observe any complications including hemorrhage during or after the procedure. Ultrasonically-guided core needle biopsy seems to be a relatively safe procedure even when "atypical hemangioma" is a diagnostic possibility