Thursday, June 10, 2010

Causes of Calcified Liver Masses on CT

1- Inflammatory hepatic lesions
oMost common cause of calcified hepatic lesions
. Inflammatory conditions
  • For example, granulomatous diseases (tuberculosis).
  • Calcification involves entire lesion
  • Appears as a dense mass
. May produce artifacts on CT scans
o Echinococcus cysts have curvilinear or ring calcification
. Central water density in cyst



2- Benign neoplasms
o Hemangiomas, especially large ones, may contain large, coarse calcifications; may be seen at CT in 20% of cases or radiography in 10%



3- Malignant liver neoplasms
o Hepatocellular adenoma
. Calcifications may be solitary or multiple
. Usually located eccentrically within complex heterogeneous mass.
o Fibrolamellar carcinoma
. Calcifications reported in 15%-25% of cases at CT
. Occurs in many patterns
o Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
. Calcifications are typically accompanied by a desmoplastic reaction
. Visible at CT in about 18% of cases.
o Calcified hepatic metastases
. Most frequently associated with mucin-producing neoplasms such as colon, or less likely ovarian, carcinoma

Calcified liver and peritoneal metastases from ovarian carcinoma

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