title: Ectopic liver and hepatocarcinogenesis: report of three cases with four years' follow-up.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may arise in ectopic livers, which are autonomous islands of normal liver parenchyma located in the abdomen or thorax. The majority of HCCs in ectopic livers are reported in oriental patients. We describe here three new cases of HCC in Caucasian patients. The clinical presentation varied from dull epigastric pain in one patient, to abrupt onset with signs and symptoms of acute abdomen caused by intra-abdominal bleeding in another patient, to an unexplained progressive increase of alpha-fetoprotein serum levels in a third patient. None had risk factors for HCC or liver disease. One of the patients developed HCC at age 34 years; she is the youngest patient ever described to develop HCC in ectopic liver. Our data further strengthen the hypothesis that ectopic livers are particularly predisposed to developing HCC. The patients were followed up for 4 years after surgery: two remain free of disease, suggesting that the unique localisation and growth pattern may render these tumours particularly susceptible to curative resection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Division of B Surgery and First Service of Human Pathology, Molinette Hospital, Turin, Italy. leone.nic@tiscalinet.it
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Paolis
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carrera
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carucci
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Musso
authors.forename: Ezio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brunello
authors.forename: Gian Ruggero
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Fronda
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rizzetto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000601:surgery; D002828:Choristoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D044465:White People