A difficult-to-diagnose case of hepatocellular adenoma in a septuagenarian

A-76-year-old woman had a hypervascular tumor located in the S6 of the liver. Although the tumor was suspected as hemangioma or focal nodular hyperplasia on CT and MRI scans, malignancy could not be excluded due to increase in tumor volume on serial images and the presence of slight increase in levels of alphafetoprotein. The patient underwent partial hepatectomy of S5/6 segments. The tumor contained some hemorrhagic areas, but no central scar was evident. Histopathological examination showed hepatocellular adenoma with mild atypia, but immunostaining was negative for beta-catenin. We report herein a difficult-to-diagnose case of hepatocellular adenoma in a septuagenarian.