Location affects the management of liver haemangioma: A retrospective cohort study

Background: The location of liver haemangioma may affect surgical decisions, but no study has ever examined this issue. Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 338 liver haemangioma patients who visited at clinic. The collected data included demographics, location, symptoms and whether surgical treatment was performed. For patients with surgical treatment, the collected data included radiologic characteristics, surgical procedures, surgical variables, postoperative stay, morbidity, and mortality. According to the location, patients were divided into left or right group and comparison was made between them. Results: Compared to the right group, patients in the left group were more likely to have symptoms (P = 0.018), especially patients with 5- to 10-cm haemangiomas (P < 0.001). Patients in the left group had higher rates of exophytic lesions and gastric outlet compression (63.8% vs 7.1%, 56.5% vs 5.1%, P < 0.001 each), while patients in the right group had a higher rate of vessel compression (36.4% vs 21.7%, P = 0.043). Higher ratio of patients in left group received liver resection (75.4% vs 26.3%, P < 0.001). The surgical time, amounts of collected blood and autologous transfusion were all greater in the right group (P = 0.008, P = 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively). The postoperative stay was longer in the right group (P = 0.007). Conclusion: The location of liver haemangioma should be considered when making surgical decisions, and it may be one of the main considerations for surgical procedures.