Supradiaphragmatic Heterotopic Liver Presenting as a Pleural Mass: A Case Report.

An, Jungsuk; Han, Joungho; Lee, Kyung Soo; Choi, Yong Soo

doi:2010.69.3.191

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 69(3); 2010 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2010;69(3):191-195.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2010.69.3.191 Published online September 1, 2010.

Supradiaphragmatic Heterotopic Liver Presenting as a Pleural Mass: A Case Report.

Jungsuk An, Joungho Han, Kyung Soo Lee, Yong Soo Choi

¹Department of Pathology, Gachon University Gil Hospital, Incheon, Korea.
²Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hanjho@skku.edu
³Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
⁴Department of Thoracic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Abnormally located liver tissue has been described in the vicinity of the liver proper, near anatomical structures such as the gallbladder, the umbilical fossa, the adrenal gland, the pancreas, and the spleen. Supradiaphragmatic ectopic liver is a rare finding, but has been reported to have been found in the intrathoracic cavity and in the pericardium. In the majority of supradiaphragmatic ectopic liver cases, there was an accompanying transdiaphragmatic pedicle of the main liver body into the abdominal cavity. In a minority of supradiaphramatic ectopic liver cases, the liver was completely separated from the abdominal cavity without a connection between the thorax and the abdomen, with accompanying diaphragmatic anomalies. We describe one case of intrathoracic ectopic liver in a patient with a previous history of lower chest wall trauma, and a brief review of the English-language medical literature on this topic.

Key Words: Liver, Thorax, Diaphragm