Liver Hemangioma

[Lou0]

I have just been diagnosed with a liver hemangioma. My dr says these are common. I have never heard of them before: is there anyone who has this and what do you do as far as follow up

[Bootandall]

Hi Lou,

I have what looks like one too. I have an MRI every six months (to note any changes in it's growth or appearance), and bloods, including the AFP (Alpha-fetoprotein) tumor marker. It is one of several tumor markers, but that's the one most commonly associated with liver cancer. This way, if anything is ever found, it can be treated quickly and options weighed.

[Lou0 in reply to Bootandall]

Do you have any other conditions of the liver to have to do 6 month scans?

My dr said my liver is healthy and he doesn’t recommend scans? I only have the 1.4 cm hemangioma no other liver conditions.

[Bootandall in reply to Lou0]

Hi Lou, l have cirrhosis of the liver. Just curious, why did your doctor do a scan in the first place? Will you be following up in any way then?

[Lou0 in reply to Bootandall]

I had a scan done for kidney stones when they discovered the hemangioma

So I had a MRI done to confirm diagnosis

[Bootandall in reply to Lou0]

So they are in "wait and see" mode, l hate that, me too. I have gotten so many little bumps and lumps as l've gotten older, l guess that's just what happens. 😯Try to think about something else, lol, that is about all you can do.😛

I think l passed a kidney stone once. 😬 I presented to A&E with bright red blood when l peed. As it happens, there was a horrible accident that day and the place was in pandemonium, so by the time l was seen, it was all over. I was admitted overnight for observation, they never found anything definite and later charted it as a blood clot in the lung! Which of course l had to have corrected. ☹️

Your doctor sounds very thorough, seems like you are in good hands. Take care!

[AyrshireK]

The British Liver Trust has a specific page about benign liver tumours - including haemangioma. britishlivertrust.org.uk/in...

My hubby has a few haemangioma in his liver but has no specific follow up for them, as he also has cirrhosis his was picked up on his routine 6 monthly ultrasound - only due to his cirrhosis he also has the AFP test every 6 months too.

Katie

[Lou0 in reply to AyrshireK]

Thank you

For the information about the page, just trying to get information on this

[AyrshireK in reply to Lou0]

From the page mentioned.

Haemangiomas are the most common of all benign solid tumours. Around 1% of people may have one of these tumours. Haemangiomas are made up of newly formed but abnormal blood vessels. They can vary in size but are usually less than 5cm (or a couple of inches) and usually remain so once grown.

Haemangiomas are usually picked up on ultrasound scanning. Further imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or microbubble ultrasound may be required to confi rm the diagnosis. A CT scan examines the density (thickness) of your body tissues. It obtains pictures, called tomograms, from different angles around your body using computer processing and can also show very detailed cross-sectioned images of your tissue and organs. With MRI a special tube scanner is used to provide a detailed view of your internal organs.

The majority of haemangiomas do not require long term monitoring or treatment. In rare cases where a tumour becomes overly large, embolisation (a type of treatment aimed at reducing the blood supply to the tumour) and surgery are most commonly used to reduce or remove it.