Prevalence of hepatic hemangioma in patients with focal nodular hyperplasia: MR imaging analysis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prevalence of hepatic hemangioma in a large population of patients with focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and to determine if the prevalence is higher than that in patients with other hepatic masses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a period of 40 months, 247 patients with one or more hepatic masses underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at our institution and met the inclusion criteria for this study. One hundred forty-eight patients received a diagnosis of FNH (study group). Ninety-nine patients had a lesion other than FNH and had no history of chronic liver disease (control group). Imaging findings of the main lesion and presence of associated hemangioma were investigated. chi2 analysis was used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the two groups regarding the number of patients with associated masses. RESULTS: Twenty-nine of 148 patients (20%) in the study group had FNH with one or more associated hepatic hemangiomas. Among the 99 patients in the control group, nine (9%) had an associated hemangioma. The prevalence of hemangioma was significantly higher (P <.02) in the study group than in the control group. The prevalence of hemangioma in patients with a solitary FNH lesion compared with that in patients with multiple FNH lesions was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Patients with FNH are more likely to have an associated hepatic hemangioma than are those with another type of focal hepatic mass.