Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst - A study of six cases and review of the literature

Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst (CHFC) is a rare, benign, solitary cyst consi sting of ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium, subepithelial conne ctive tissue, a smooth muscle layer, and an outer fibrous capsule. We studi ed six previously unreported cases of CHFC and 50 cases from the literature . The literature search revealed that Friedreich first described the lesion in 1857 and hypothesized its congenital origin. The cyst generally is foun d incidentally on radiologic imaging or during surgical exploration, althou gh one case presented with portal vein compression. It occurs mon frequentl y in men and is found most commonly in the medial segment of the left hepat ic lobe, unlike most other solitary cysts that show a female predominance a nd greater occurrence in the right hepatic lobe. Two of the 56 cases were m ultilocular. There has been an increase in the number of reports of CHFC du ring the past 15 years. This may reflect the increased availability and use of various radiologic imaging modalities. A large number of cases have bee n reported in the Japanese population, but the significance of this is uncl ear. CHFC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of other solit ary liver cysts, including simple cysts, hepatobiliary cystadenomas, and pa rasitic cysts.