Lipoma of the liver: a differential-diagnostic problem

Background and aims: Lipomatous tumors of the liver are extremely rare; mos t of them are found incidentally at autopsy. Appropriate methods of the dia gnosis of these lesions are ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT) and biopsy. Case report: The case of a 65-year-old man who had undergone an upper-rectum resection because of exulcerated adenocarcinoma of the rectum is described. Six months later, routine control examination revealed a sol id tumor in the left lobe of the liver. The tumor was not demonstrated by e ither sonography or CT before the operation. Repeated US, CT scan and fine- needle biopsy could not exclude the possibility of a metastatic tumor secon dary to previous malignancy. The lesion was removed by wedge resection and was proven to be a lipoma. Conclusion: Despite adequate preoperative examin ation (CT, biopsy and US), an anamnestic adenocarcinoma of the rectum can l ead to inappropriate therapy. The inadequate result of our therapeutic poli cy can be explained by the extremely rare incidence of lipoma of the liver.