PRIMARY EPITHELIOID HEMANGIOENDOTHELIOMA OF THE LIVER - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

A 31 year old female patient presented with a one and a half year hist ory of pain in the upper abdomen. The pain was mild, constant, dull ac hing, and increased with change in posture or sudden movements. There was no definite relation to meals. She also had a lump in the right up per quadrant, which had been gradually increasing in size over three m onths. She had mild anorexia and reported a 5 kg weight loss over one year. She had no history of intake of oral contraceptive drugs, exposu re to vinyl chloride, thorotrast or any other industrial toxin. Ultras onography of the abdomen revealed multiple space occupying lesions of altered echo-texture in both lobes of the liver. The portal venous sys tem and hepatic vascular system were normal. Computed tomography of th e abdomen confirmed the ultrasound findings. Histopathology was diagno stic for primary epithelioid haemangioendothelioma; the first such cas e reported from India. The patient has been put on a waiting list for a liver transplant.