A Case Report of Spontaneous Complete Necrosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Takashi Itoh, Taichi Kanamaru, Yasushi Morita, Masahiro Yamamoto, Yoshikazu Kuroda, Yoshitake Hayashi^* and Hiroshi Itoh^*

First Department of Surgery and ^*First Department of Pathology, Kobe University, School of Medicine

A58-year-old man visited our hospital with liver dysfunction. On admission, computed tomography revealed a low density area, 1.2 cm in Couinaud's segment 5 (S5). Hepatic angiography showed ring enhancement with a central hypovascular zone. Under a diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we partially resected S5. The lesion was a yellowish mass, measuring 1.2×1.0 cm, with a capsule. Histopathologically, the tumor consisted of eosinophilic necrotic tissue with a trabecular pattern, which was found in the intracapsular area. No viable cells were found by examination of the tumor. The non-tumor liver tissue revealed cirrhosis. Finally, this case was considered to be one of spontaneous complete necrosis of HCC. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. Three years after hepatectomy, he was readmitted because of multiple recurrence of HCC. Only four cases of spontaneous complete necrosis of HCC in Japan were found in the literature.

Key words
hepatocellular carcinoma, spontaneous necrosis

Reprint requests
Takashi Itoh First Department of Surgery, Kobe University, School of Medicine 7-5-1 Kusunoki-chou, Chuou-ku, Kobe, 650-0017 JAPAN

Accepted
October 14, 1998

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