Polycystic liver and its calcification

Mainly on our 14 cases including one case of calcified non-parasitic polycystic liver disease

Abstract

Polycystic liver is relatively rare disease, about 200 cases being reported in Japan till 1975. We report our 14 cases including a rare case (case 11) of non-parasitic polycystic liver disease complicated with calcification.
Our 14 cases were between 43 and 80 years of age, four times more in females than in males. Chief complaints were abdominal pain, meteorism, general malaise etc. and physical examination showed hepatomegaly, palpable tumor and palpable kidney. Three cases had impaired liver function tests but their degree of abnormality was slight. We studied them with hepatic scintigram, peritoneoscopic examination etc. and 43% (6 cases) were detected to have renal cysts. Case 2 was advanced cancer of liver and pancreas and carcinoma arising from the liver cysts was suspected. A half (7 cases) was treated medically and the other half, surgically (cystectomy and so on).
Case 11 (a 65 year-old female) was admitted to our hospital with chief complaint of meteorism, ascites and hepatomegaly. CT scanning, operation (fenestration of cysts) and histological examination revealed that this case was a calcified nonparasitic polycystic liver disease. Only two of such cases were reported in 1977 by Kutcher, R et al.