Cavernous hemangioma of the liver. Diagnostic value of 99mTc-labeled red cell scintigraphy: results in 28 patients.

Cavernous hemangioma is the most common benign tumor of the liver, the organ in which these lesions are most often present. We report on 28 patients who underwent 99mTc-labeled red cell scintigraphy after ultrasound or computerized tomography images suggesting the existence of one or more hepatic angiomas. In 16 patients (57.1%), an accumulation of red blood cells was considered to indicate the existence of hemangiomas. On the basis of subsequent clinical follow-up, ultrasound studies, and in one case laparotomy, all were eventually confirmed to be hemangiomas. The specificity as 100%. In the remaining 12 patients (42.9%), red cell uptake was not observed and the findings were considered negative; in this group, there were 10 true negatives and 2 false negatives in which scintigraphy failed to detect the existing angiomas due to their small size and deep location. The sensitivity was 88.8%. On the basis of the results, it is concluded that labeled red cell scintigraphy is a highly sensitive and specific method for the diagnosis of cavernous hemangioma of the liver. It should be considered the method of choice when this lesion is suspected, thus avoiding the use of more invasive diagnostic procedures such as laparoscopy which, in our study proved to be unnecessary.