A CASE OF FOCAL NODULAR HYPERPLASIA OF THE LIVER

A resected case of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) of the liver occurring in a 30-year-old male is reported. The patient visited our hospital with a chief complaint of general fatigue. Imaging diagnosis revealed some patterns different from a typical case of FNH. Abdominal echography revealed on irregular internal echo level, and computed tomography of the abdomen revealed remarkable enhancement. Proper hepatic arteriography revealed conspicuous dilatation and bending of the feeding artery. In arteriography the tumor was stained densely at a relatively early stage and was made up of a collection of small nodules in the late capillary phase. The irregularity of the internal echo level in echography was found to have been due to intermingling of parenchymal nodules and fibrosed bundles. The remarkable enhancement CT and the conspicuous tumor staining on angiography, on the other hand, were due to the existence of thick bundles of severely fibrotic tissue containing abundant vessels around the nodules of liver cells.