Abstract
Unknown liver lesions represent a common clinical challenge, for example in the context
of routine ultrasound examinations of primary care physicians. There are different
data on the prevalence of primary liver lesions in the literature. As such, a forensic
autopsy series described focal liver lesions in about 50 % of all examined men between
35 and 69 years of age with an increasing incidence for older people. In the diagnostic
work-up of unclear liver lesions, a careful distinction between lesions that occur
in asymptomatic and healthy individuals and are benign in over 95 % of cases, and
lesion found in patients with pre-existing malignant, inflammatory or cirrhotic disease
must be made. The main goal in the diagnosis of unclear liver lesions is to prove
the benignity of the lesion and to exclude a malignant cause as reliably as possible.
In case of benign lesions, an attempt should be made to achieve an exact classification.
The most common benign focal liver lesions include liver cysts, focal fatty liver
deposition or sparing, haemangiomas, focal calcifications, focal nodular hyperplasia
(FNH), nodular regenerative hyperplasia, biliary hamartomas (von-Meyenburg complexes)
and hepatocellular adenomas. Abscesses, inflammatory infiltrations or pseudotumors
as well as sites of extramedullary haematopoiesis are observed much less frequently.
Among the most frequent malignant focal liver lesions are metastases of other tumor
entities such as colorectal cancer or pancreatic adenocarcinoma as well as hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCA). Other entities such as hepatic
lymphomas or mesenchymal malignant neoplasia are extremely rare.
Unklare Leberläsionen stellen ein sehr häufiges klinisches Problem dar, etwa im Kontext
von sonografischen Routineuntersuchungen in der hausärztlichen oder internistischen
Praxis. Die zentrale Aufgabe in der Diagnostik besteht darin, die Gutartigkeit der
Läsionen zu belegen und eine maligne Ursache möglichst sicher auszuschließen, wobei
eine genaue Zuordnung jedoch nicht immer zu erreichen ist.
Schlüsselwörter
Leberraumforderung - Hämangiom - FNH - Leberzelladenom - Bildgebung
Key words
liver lesions - liver tumour - haemangioma - focal nodular hyperplasia - FNH - metastases
- malignant neoplasia - ultrasound
