[Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst: report of a case and a summary of the 24 cases reported in Japan].

ABSTRACT

We report a 52-year-old patient with a small hepatic mass which was ultrasonographically anechoic with scattered high echoic spots, and appearing slightly hyperattenuating relative to the surrounding parenchyma on unenhanced CT scans. Laparotomy revealed that the lesion was a unilocular cyst containing a mucinous fluid. The histologic diagnosis was ciliated hepatic foregut cyst (CHFC). The CHFC is a rare congenital cystic tumor which derives from the embryologic foregut. Up to 2006, only 24 cases, including our case, had been reported in Japan. The patients were 13 men and 11 women, aged between 41 years and 79 years. All of the lesions were solitary and unilocular. In 22 cases, the CHFC was located in the medial segment of the left lobe, mostly just beneath the hepatic surface. In all 24 Japanese cases, the cystic wall was benign histologically. However, reports of 3 malignant cases overseas indicates we should treat this disease cautiously.