Giant cavernous hemangioma of the liver: CT and MR imaging in 10 cases

Ten giant cavernous hemangiomas of the liver in eight patients were examined with both MR imaging and dynamic bolus CT. The maximal diameters of the tumors were 6.5-19 cm (mean, 10.8 cm). MR imaging was done with a 2.0-T superconducting magnet and spin-echo imaging. CT was done with single-bolus dynamic scans. On MR images, all 10 hemangiomas had a heterogeneous appearance. The main part of the tumor comprised uniform, well-defined, high-intensity areas on T2-weighted images, with increasing intensity ratios with prolongation of TR and TE. Other parts of the tumor were cleftlike and were of lower intensity than the remainder of the tumor on T1-weighted images and of higher intensity on heavily T2-weighted images. These parts corresponded to the areas of the tumor that were of lower density on dynamic bolus CT scans. Internal septa in the tumor of low intensity were also noted on all MR pulse sequences. These parts corresponded to low-density areas on delayed contrast-enhanced CT. Familiarity with the characteristics of the internal architecture of giant cavernous hemangiomas on MR imaging or dynamic bolus CT might be useful in making the correct diagnosis of this tumor.