title: CT and MRI imaging at the acute phase of inaugural non-traumatic hepatic haemorrhages.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although rare, non-traumatic hepatic haemorrhage is a known complication of liver tumors. In cases where the haemorrhage is the first clinical event, diagnostic work-up is critical.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study was conducted between July 2001 and March 2011. Acute phase CT-scan and MRI imaging in patients diagnosed with non-traumatic liver hematomas were interpreted with particular attention to the radio-semiotic characteristics of hematomas and liver lesions. Those findings were then confronted to the patients' final diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve patients were included (mean age of 42 years). In seven of them a suspect liver lesion was discovered in the acute CT-Scan or MRI imaging. All lesions were strongly hyper vascular.The haemorrhage revealed hepatocarcinoma in four patients, liver adenoma in two and focal nodular hyperplasia in an other.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is important in spontaneous liver haemorrhage to consider the high probability of hepatocarcinoma or potentially malignant lesions even when the patient has no known hepatic disorders, and especially in young patients. The results of this study show that imaging is a key issue at the acute phase of inaugural non-traumatic hepatic haemorrhages and requires a simple but complete triphasic injected protocol.
authors: Service de Radiologie Digestive et Endocrinienne, Hôpital Huriez, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille, Université Lille Nord-de-France, 1, place de Verdun, 59037 Lille Cedex, France. gregoireboulouis@gmail.com
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Boulouis
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Marmin
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Lemaire
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Boury
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Sergent
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Mordon
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Ernst
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed