A clinicopathologic study of hepatic angiomyolipoma / 中华外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinicopathologic features, diagnosis and treatment of hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical, histopathological, treatment and prognosis data of 51 patients treated for HAML from October 1998 to October 2007 were retrospectively analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>HAML had a female predilection (female/male = 41/10) and the mean age was 44 years old. The main symptoms were abdominal mass (33 cases) and abdominal pain or discomfort (15 cases), the other 2 cases presented as fever. Histopathologically, HAML was composed of a heterogeneous mixture of blood vessels, smooth muscle, and adipose cells. Immunohistochemical staining showed relatively high positive rate of HMB-45 (50/51), SMA (47/49) and S-100 (39/42). All 51 patients underwent partial hepatectomy. The mean hospital stay was 13.8 days and mean intraoperative blood loss was 263 ml. There was no recurrence or metastasis after a mean follow-up of 55.4 months.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>HAML is a rare benign mesenchymal tumor of the liver. Definitive diagnosis of HAML depends on the pathohistological findings and HMB-45 positive myoid cell is an important diagnostic marker. Complete surgical resection is the optimal treatment for HAML with favorable prognosis.</p>