Infantile hepatic haemangioendothelioma: a case report

Abstract

Infantile haemangioendothelioma is a rare tumour of infancy arising from mesenchymal tissue. The liver is the commonest site for this tumour in children. This is a report of a 3 month old boy who presented with hepatomegaly, hypertension, congestive cardiac failure and protracted diarrhea. Abdominal ultrasonography demonstrated diffuse hepatic nodules involving the whole liver. A diagnosis of infantile hepatic haemangioendothelioma was made on histologic examination of tissue following an open liver biopsy. The patient died 3 days after liver biopsy. We report this case to raise awareness of this rare tumour of infancy in our environment.