Made up of tangled blood vessel clumps, liver hemangiomas are among the most common type of liver tumors. Fortunately, they rarely cause any symptoms and won’t require any removal procedures. Additionally, they won’t turn into malignant liver growths.
More precisely, hepatic hemangiomas are noncancerous liver tumors formed by malformed blood vessels fed by the liver’s artery. Hemangioma lesions may develop in a variety of organs, even in the brain, where they may cause problems. Still, when they develop in the liver, they rarely cause any issues. Most importantly, they don’t become malignant, and liver hemangioma symptoms occur very rarely, even in cases when the lesions grow especially massive.
More About Liver Hemangiomas
The medical-scientific community isn’t really sure why these lesions develop. Some think it’s a congenital anomaly that doesn’t indicate any liver problems. Also, the clumped-up vessels won’t interfere with liver functions. Essentially, some people “just simply get it,” and it rarely grows in size or spreads to other organs. That said, most experts recommend leaving these benign liver lesions alone.
Why leave them alone? The numbers indicate that liver hemangiomas are nothing to worry about. A small percentage of them will grow, and they will need to get enlarged quite a bit to produce symptoms. In most cases, providers will usually perform regular monitoring tests to keep an eye on these benign liver lesions. On the other hand, IHH, or infantile hepatic hemangioma (affecting babies), is a different medical issue that might need a more comprehensive medical approach.
Also, hemangiomas are the most common benign liver lesions that develop in around five percent of the population. Most of them develop in middle-aged adult women.
Causes and Liver Hemangioma Symptoms
As already pointed out above, most of these benign liver lesions don’t cause any symptoms. On average, they are no larger than three centimeters, and those that are larger than ten centimeters qualify as “giant hemangiomas.” The latter massive lesions are those that will probably trigger symptoms because of the swelling. That said, the most common liver hemangioma symptoms in these cases include the following:
- Nausea
- Lack of appetite or fullness
- Bloated stomach
- Abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant
In even rarer cases, liver hemangiomas may lead to specific complications such as:
- Bile duct or blood vessel compression that leads to jaundice, thrombosis, or edema.
- Blood clots inside the tumor, or other degenerative processes, such as calcium deposit formation or scarring.
- Bleeding from the clumped-up blood vessels into the cavity of the abdomen.
- Rapture of the lesions leading to internal bleeding due to the severe strain of the liver or direct trauma.
Usually, these benign liver lesions look like dark blue-red growths with well-defined borders. They may also be surrounded by a small tissue capsule.
Regarding hemangioma causes, experts aren’t sure what causes them. As mentioned above, some propose that there might be a hereditary component to these benign lesions. Also, research has pointed out that there’s a connection between these hemangiomas and estrogen. More specifically, they develop more often in women, especially in periods when more estrogen is present in the female body (such as puberty, pregnancy, and during HRT – hormone replacement therapy).
On the other hand, there seems to be no link between drinking alcohol and hemangioma formation. Heavy alcohol consumption is more associated with cancerous liver growth and other hepatic problems such as cirrhosis.
Establishing a Diagnosis
Because most of these benign liver lesions are asymptomatic, they are mostly diagnosed accidentally, appearing on imaging tests for other medical reasons. On that note, the most common imaging tests that can help diagnose hemangiomas are the following:
- CT scans where computers and X-rays produce cross-section body images.
- MRI scans where radio waves, a large magnet, and a computer are responsible for creating images.
- Contrast-enhanced ultrasound where high-frequency sound waves are used. They are sent through the body, and the resulting echoes produce pictures or videos.
- Nuclear liver scan involving Technetium-99m (a radioactive trace material) helps form an image of the benign liver lesions.
- X-ray contrast looks at the blood vessels in the body.
If the patients worry that they might have a cancerous tumor on their liver, they might feel relieved to know that, in most cases, imaging tests are enough to rule out malignancies. In instances where the hemangioma doesn’t show typical characteristics, providers might recommend further tests to rule out cancer.
Liver Hemangioma Treatment
As mentioned above, in most cases, these benign liver lesions require no treatment. Still, liver hemangioma treatment may be necessary if the lesions appear to be growing. For the most part, doctors will cut off the lesion’s blood supply via arterial embolization, which is able to slow down the growth or even reverse it. If this doesn’t help and the lesions keep on growing, doctors usually remove them with the help of surgery.
Remember, these are rare cases. In most instances, providers will keep these lesions under close observation with the help of imaging tests performed once or twice yearly to note any changes. Most liver hemangiomas don’t grow or change. And if they do, the growth is usually pretty slow, no more than two millimeters a year.
On that note, it’s important to remember that increased estrogen levels in the body (during pregnancy, for instance) may induce faster hemangioma growth, but that’s not always the case. Even in these cases, the lesions probably won’t grow that large to cause symptoms. Still, depending on the current size of the lesion, healthcare providers may address it preventatively to ensure it won’t cause any problems in the future. Massive hemangiomas may rupture during labor due to severe strain.
Prevention
Since the medical community doesn’t know the exact causes of these lesions, they can’t suggest any effective preventative measures. Still, data indicates that high estrogen levels may play a role in their development or faster growth. As such, women who are taking HRT might want to avoid their hormone replacement regimen if they worry about their liver lesions causing trouble.
Still, the outlook for hemangiomas is excellent as most of these lesions won’t cause any problems, and even if they do, surgery can easily address the issue.
No Need to Worry
While nobody likes to discover that they have growths on their liver, liver hemangiomas are usually harmless and cause no symptoms. Patients who do have them rarely report any hemangioma-related problems. These lesions won’t turn cancerous, and most of them won’t even grow. Still, if patients feel unease about these growths, they can always speak to their healthcare provider, who will schedule regular monitoring appointments to check on these lesions. Also, doctors can offer several treatment methods. For example, surgery can easily remove the tumor if necessary.
If you’d like to learn more about these liver lesions, feel free to reach out to Dr. Omar Rashid and his helpful staff today. They will be more than ready to answer your questions about liver tumors and other hepatic issues.