Primary intrahepatic malignant epithelioid mesothelioma

• Primary malignant hepatic mesothelioma is usually diagnosed postoperatively, as there are no specific radiologic features for this tumor.
• The surgeon should be alert in cases of patients with known history of asbestos exposure.
• Proper surgical treatment may offer prolonged survival to the patient, without adjuvant therapy.

INTRODUCTIONPrimary malignant hepatic mesotheliomas are extremely rare. We report the case of a patient with primary intrahepatic malignant mesothelioma who was treated in our department.PRESENTATION OF CASEA 66-year old male patient was admitted to our department for the evaluation of anemia. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed a large space occupying lesion in the right liver lobe.DISCUSSIONThe tumor was subsequently resected and a diagnosis of primary intrahepatic malignant mesothelioma was made after pathologic examination. The patient did not receive adjuvant therapy and is currently alive and free of disease, 36 months after the resection.CONCLUSIONTo our knowledge this is the eighth adult case of primary intrahepatic malignant mesothelioma reported in the literature. These tumors are rarely diagnosed preoperatively. Absence of previous asbestos exposure does not exclude malignant mesothelioma from the differential diagnosis. Proper surgical treatment may offer prolonged survival to the patient, without adjuvant therapy.