Difficult diagnosis of a large cystic retroperitoneal tumor mimicking a hepatic origin.
Schwannomas are rare tumors, usually benign, originating from the nerve sheath, and found only infrequently in the retroperitoneal space. We report on a 67-year-old woman who was initially misdiagnosed and treated for a liver hydatid cyst. After incomplete resection and recurrence of the tumor, we were able to diagnose a large retroperitoneal schwannoma that completely displaced the liver to the left abdomen. The patient underwent surgical resection of the schwannoma; pathological evaluation revealed a cystic tumor measuring 18.5 × 18 × 12.5 cm, with tumor cells staining strongly positive for S-100. Retroperitoneal schwannomas may mimic cystic hepatic tumors and should, therefore, be considered as a differential diagnosis in such cases. We describe the diagnostic modalities and difficulties in the approach of a cystic liver tumor.
Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, Ulm, Germany.
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G
von Figura
D
D
Hartmann
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S
Pauls
T F E
TF
Barth
G
G
Adler
D
D
Henne-Bruns
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H
Kulaksiz
D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012186:Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome