Difference between liver hemangioma and liver cancer in ultrasound

Written by Shen Jiang Chao
Radiology
Updated on September 26, 2024
00:00
00:00

Liver hemangiomas display a variety of appearances on ultrasound, including hyper-echoic, hypo-echoic, and mixed echoes. Typically, hemangiomas appear on ultrasound as round or oval hyper-echoic masses, with internal echoes that may show a sieve-like change. In contrast, liver cancer primarily appears as hypo-echoic on ultrasound, and liver cancer symptoms are more varied because most liver cancers develop on the basis of cirrhosis. In addition to hypo-echoic masses, there are other manifestations, such as an incomplete liver capsule, widened liver fissures, spleen enlargement, and dilated portal veins, which are used to differentiate from hemangiomas.

Other Voices

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
53sec home-news-image

Symptoms of deteriorating hepatic hemangioma

When deterioration occurs in liver blood vessels, it primarily manifests as rupture and bleeding of hepatic hemangiomas, which can lead to hemorrhagic shock, and even cause death. Of course, in the early stages of the disease, patients may only experience discomfort and pain in the upper right abdomen. As the bleeding increases, the pain becomes significant, and clinical symptoms such as decreased blood pressure and increased heart rate may occur. Therefore, it is important to pay close attention to patients with large hepatic hemangiomas and perform surgery as early as possible for a definitive cure. Moreover, postoperative attention is still needed. Patients should avoid injuries, follow a light diet primarily, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, and reduce the burden on the liver to better facilitate recovery from the condition.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
48sec home-news-image

Do liver hemangiomas occasionally cause pain?

Patients with hepatic hemangioma may occasionally experience pain. Although hepatic hemangioma is a benign tumor, it can still cause pain in the liver area. Moreover, the most severe complication of hepatic hemangioma is liver bleeding. Therefore, it is advisable to perform surgery as soon as possible when the tumor is large. The primary method of surgery is interventional surgery, which can achieve a cure by ligation. If not actively managed, liver bleeding can occur, leading to a critical condition, even causing hemorrhagic shock and death. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to this condition, and for smaller hepatic hemangiomas, regular follow-up color ultrasound examinations should be conducted to dynamically observe changes in size.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
50sec home-news-image

Will liver hemangiomas cause spots on the face?

Patients with hepatic hemangiomas generally do not experience issues with scarring. For patients with hepatic hemangiomas, liver function abnormalities typically do not occur, so there won’t be any formation of spots. If spots do appear, they are mainly due to other causes. When the hepatic hemangioma is small in size, patients generally do not exhibit noticeable symptoms and special treatment is not necessary at this stage; periodic follow-up with ultrasonography to monitor any changes in size is sufficient. However, for patients with large hepatic hemangiomas, there may be pain in the liver area, potential rupture and bleeding, and even the possibility of hemorrhagic shock; therefore, it is crucial to be vigilant and pursue surgical removal early to better improve the prognosis of the patients.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
41sec home-news-image

How long does it take to recover from minimally invasive surgery for liver hemangioma?

Patients with liver hemangiomas can undergo minimally invasive surgery via peripheral vascular intervention. They generally recover within three to five days after the surgery. Therefore, for patients with larger liver hemangiomas, which could potentially rupture and bleed, surgical treatment is advisable to achieve complete cure. However, for smaller liver hemangiomas without obvious symptoms, no special treatment is needed. Regular follow-up with color ultrasound to monitor any changes in size is sufficient. If surgery is carried out, the recovery time is generally three to five days, so there is no need for excessive concern.

doctor image
home-news-image
Written by Liu Wu Cai
Hepatobiliary Surgery
51sec home-news-image

Will liver hemangioma increase cancer embryonic antigen?

Generally speaking, hepatocellular adenomas do not exhibit elevated levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Regarding hepatocellular adenomas, they are benign liver lesions and typically do not cause any noticeable symptoms in patients. They are most often discovered during ultrasound examinations. Patients with larger hepatocellular adenomas may experience pain in the liver area, and there is also a possibility of rupture and bleeding. Therefore, early surgical intervention is advisable, as surgery can yield excellent treatment outcomes. However, generally, patients with hepatocellular adenomas do not exhibit an increase in CEA. Elevated tumor markers and increased CEA are found in patients with malignant liver tumors.