[Hemangioendothelioma of the liver in the newborn: description of 2 cases].

The infantile hemangioendothelioma of the liver is a rare benign vascular tumor that accounts for some 10% of all primary hepatic masses. Two cases were seen at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of Vicenza's Hospital in the last ten years. Both of patients were females and presented in neonatal period asymptomatic. The first patient was found to have hepatomegaly by pediatrician at six weeks of age, the second was an incidental finding following ultrasound neonatal screening. The Authors outline some difficulties met with differential diagnosis between benign versus malignant hepatic tumors. Explorative laparotomy was considered necessary in both the patients. Liver biopsy was the only surgical procedure performed in the nonresectable tumor. Treatment with corticosteroids finally proved to be successful to determine progressive involution of the tumor. In the resectable form, left hepatic lobectomy was successfully performed because of the progressive size increase of the tumor.