Organ Transplantation Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Organ Transplantation, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery.

Hepatoblastoma in a child with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis.

Richter A, Grabhorn E, Schulz A, Schaefer HJ, Burdelski M, Ganschow R

Department of Pediatrics, Hamburg School of Medicine, University of Hamburg, Germany. a.richter@uke.uni-hamburg.de

End-stage liver cirrhosis because of metabolic or infectious diseases predisposes to hepatic malignancies like hepatocellular carcinoma. We report the first case of hepatoblastoma incidentally detected in the explanted liver of a 2-yr-old child undergoing liver transplantation for cirrhosis because of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC). The diagnosis was difficult to obtain. The hepatoblastoma was not seen on ultrasound examination of the cirrhotic liver. As we could confirm retrospectively, alpha fetoprotein (AFP) was found elevated prior to transplantation. Two years after successful transplantation, there are no signs of malignancy detectable by clinical and radiological methods. We conclude from this case that PFIC may induce hepatoblastoma and that children with liver cirrhosis should undergo routine screening of serum AFP concentration.

Published 4 November 2005 in Pediatr Transplant, 9(6): 805-8.
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