Hemangiomas are the most common benign tumors of the liver, occurring in all age groups, and more frequently in adults. The vast majority of hemangiomas are small, asymptomatic, and are incidentally discovered. Larger lesions may eventually produce symptoms. The sonographic aspect of these tumors varies, the lesions being typically small, well defined and hyperechoic. In this study the authors review clinical and sonographic features of hemangiomas, highlighting the clinical significance of such features to be taken into consideration in the treatment of affected patients.

Keywords: Hemangioma, Liver, Ultrasound

The recognition and identification of benign liver tumors is important since most of these tumors do not require any intervention. The authors report the ultrasonography findings in 16 patients with bile duct hamartomas (von Meyenburg complex) that were evaluated prospectively by an active search of eight years. Multiple lesions with size equal or less than 0.8 cm were identified in 14 patients. Two other patients had only two lesions measuring 0.4 cm to 1.3 cm. The most common ultrasonographic pattern was that of multiple small hyperechogenic lesions (with or without posterior acoustic reverberation) with irregular margins (14 patients). A less common finding (two patients with two lesions each) was the "target" pattern with echogenic center and well defined limits.

Keywords: Liver, Bile duct hamartomas, von Meyenburg complex, Ultrasonography, Intraoperative ultrasonography

The authors report the clinical, gross pathology and ultrasonography findings of 11 prospectively studied patients with solid and papillary epithelial neoplasm of the pancreas (SPEN). The patients were one male and ten females aged 15 to 75 years (mean age at diagnosis: 27 years). All patients had pathology proven SPEN and were submitted to preoperative ultrasonography. The size, location and ultrasonographic features of the tumors were evaluated and correlated with the gross pathology findings. The mean transverse diameter of these tumors was 8.7 cm (range: 4.2 cm to 16.0 cm). Tumors were located in the head (three cases), body (three cases) and tail (five cases) of the pancreas. All lesions were well encapsulated and presented some degree of internal hemorrhage. There was full correlation between ultrasonography and gross pathology findings. In three cases (27.3%) the tumors were predominantly solid, cystic in one case (9.1%), and had equal degrees of solid and cystic components in seven cases (63.6%). Calcifications, predominantly peripheral, were seen in four (36.4%) of the 11 patients. All tumors were in contact with the portal, mesenteric and splenic venous axis. In all cases except one there was no venous invasion. Lymph nodes or distant metastases were not observed in any of the patients. The authors concluded that in all cases there was a correlation between the ultrasonography and gross pathology findings, and although ultrasonography findings are not specific they may be highly suggestive of SPEN in the appropriate clinical context.

Keywords: Neoplasm of the pancreas, Solid and papillary epithelial neoplasm of the pancreas, Ultrasonography