MALIGNANT VASCULAR TUMORS OF THE LIVER - RADIOLOGIC-PATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION

Although benign vascular tumors of the liver are extremely common (hem angioma is the most common), malignant vascular tumors of the liver ar e very rare. In the adult, these tumors are angiosarcoma, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, and Kaposi sarcoma. All hepatic malignant vascul ar tumors share histologic characteristics, grow around and into vesse ls, and are grossly multifocal. They may be misdiagnosed histologicall y, particularly if only a biopsy sample is available. Although imaging findings are often nonspecific, some features are suggestive or even characteristic of these neoplasms. Such features include previous expo sure to thorium dioxide (Thorotrast) in cases of angiosarcoma, coalesc ence of multiple nodules into large peripheral masses in epithelioid h emangioendothelioma, and association between acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and cutaneous involvement in Kaposi sarcoma. Because hepatic malignant vascular tumors are often multiple, the main differential d iagnosis is metastatic disease. There is no effective treatment for th ese tumors, and although survival time is variable, the prognosis is g enerally unfavorable.