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Multiple Choice

What is the most common benign mass of the liver?

Cavernous hemangioma is the most common benign liver mass. It is a benign vascular lesion composed of dilated vascular channels lined by endothelium within fibrous stroma. Most lesions are incidental and asymptomatic in adults, often found during imaging for other reasons, with a female predominance. On imaging, it shows a well-circumscribed appearance with peripheral nodular enhancement that progressively fills in from the outside toward the center, a pattern that allows confident noninvasive diagnosis. Treatment is usually unnecessary unless the lesion is very large or symptomatic. Other benign lesions exist (focal nodular hyperplasia is common as well but less so than cavernous hemangioma and has a characteristic central scar), hepatic adenoma is associated with risk factors like oral contraceptives and potential hemorrhage or rare malignant transformation, and hepatoblastoma is a malignant tumor seen in children.

Cavernous hemangioma is the most common benign liver mass. It is a benign vascular lesion composed of dilated vascular channels lined by endothelium within fibrous stroma. Most lesions are incidental and asymptomatic in adults, often found during imaging for other reasons, with a female predominance. On imaging, it shows a well-circumscribed appearance with peripheral nodular enhancement that progressively fills in from the outside toward the center, a pattern that allows confident noninvasive diagnosis. Treatment is usually unnecessary unless the lesion is very large or symptomatic. Other benign lesions exist (focal nodular hyperplasia is common as well but less so than cavernous hemangioma and has a characteristic central scar), hepatic adenoma is associated with risk factors like oral contraceptives and potential hemorrhage or rare malignant transformation, and hepatoblastoma is a malignant tumor seen in children.