A Case Report of Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma of the Liver

Michinori Murayama, Kazuo Hatsuse, Shintaro Terahata*, Hideki Aoki, Shoetsu Tamakuma

First Department of Surgery, National Defense Medical College
*Clinical Laboratory, National Defense Medical College Hospital

A 33-year-old man complained of jaundice and upper abdominal pain. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed obstructive jaundice with tumor of the liver hilum, and we performed percutaneous transhepatic bile drainage. Cholangiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and angiography provided the diagnosis of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, and we performed left trisegmentectomy with resection of the portal vein. A total of 45 Gy of postoperative radiation was given to the site of anastomosis. The intrahepatic tumor invaded into the liver hilum, measuring 3.0×2.3×4.5 cm. The cut surface was gray-white, round in shape and revealed a cystic lesion in the center of the tumor. Microscopically, the center of the tumor with cyst was mucoepidermoid carcinoma, accompanied with the feature of adenocarcinoma at the peripheral site. Mucoepidermoid carcinoma arising from the intrahepatic bile duct is very rare, and no case of long-term survival has been described. A patient with mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the liver, who is alive 20 months after surgery and has no sign of recurrence, is reported.

Key words
mucoepidermoid carcinoma, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Reprint requests
Michinori Murayama First Department of Surgery, National Defense Medical College
3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, 359 JAPAN

Accepted
January 13, 1993

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