Case Report
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2006; 12(8): 1321-1323
Published online Feb 28, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i8.1321
Bile duct hamartomas (von Mayenburg complexes) mimicking liver metastases from bile duct cancer: MRC findings
Yasuhiko Nagano, Kenichi Matsuo, Katsuya Gorai, Kazuya Sugimori, Chikara Kunisaki, Hideyuki Ike, Katsuaki Tanaka, Toshio Imada, Hiroshi Shimada
Yasuhiko Nagano, Kenichi Matsuo, Katsuya Gorai, Kazuya Sugimori, Chikara Kunisaki, Hideyuki Ike, Katsuaki Tanaka, Toshio Imada, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Gastroenterological Center, Yokohama, Japan
Hiroshi Shimada, Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Yasuhiko Nagano, MD, PhD, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Gastroenterological Center, 232-0024 4-57 Urafunecho, Minami-ku, Yokohama City, Japan. yasuhiko@urahp.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-45-2615656 Fax: +81-45-2619492
Received: April 15, 2005
Revised: June 5, 2005
Accepted: June 16, 2005
Published online: February 28, 2006
Abstract

We present a case of a 72-year-old man with a common bile duct cancer, who was initially believed to have multiple liver metastases based on computed tomography findings, and in whom magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) revealed a diagnosis of bile duct hamartomas. At exploration for pancreaticoduodenectomy, liver palpation revealed disseminated nodules at the surface of the liver. These nodules showed gray-white nodular lesions of about 0.5 cm in diameter scattered on the surface of both liver lobes, which were looked like multiple liver metastases from bile duct cancer. Frozen section of the liver biopsy disclosed multiple bile ducts with slightly dilated lumens embedded in the collagenous stroma characteristics of multiple bile duct hamartomas (BDHs). Only two reports have described the MRC features of bile duct hamartomas. Of all imaging procedures, MRC provides the most relevant features for the imaging diagnosis of bile duct hamartomas.

Keywords: Bile duct hamartoma; Magnetic resonance cholangiography; Multiple liver metastases