Advances in Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Endoscopy

Hepatocellular Adenoma

Hepatocellular adenoma (also known as hepatic adenoma or hepadenoma) is a rare, benign liver tumor. It most commonly occurs in people with elevated systemic levels of estrogen, classically in women taking estrogen-containing oral contraceptive medication. Hepatic adenoma is usually detected by imaging, typically an ultrasound or CT, as a hyper enhancing liver nodule. Given that several liver tumors appear similarly on these imaging modalities, a multi-phase contrast-enhanced imaging study such as CT or MRI may be used to provide more information.

You may not know you have a hepatic adenoma unless it ruptures. A ruptured hepatic adenoma is serious. It can cause

• sudden abdominal pain low blood pressure internal bleeding


• low blood pressure


• internal bleeding