Due to their rarity in childhood, tumors of the liver can be difficult to diagnose and manage. Mesenchymal hamartoma is the second most frequent benign liver tumor in children, and yet still a rare entity, poorly understood.
Typically, it presents as a rapidly enlarging, painless, abdominal mass in children younger than two years. Spontaneous regression or occasional malignant degeneration into undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma can rarely occur. Here, we report a case of a mesenchymal hamartoma of the liver in a 18 month-old child. The imaging features were suggestive of the diagnostic and confirmed by the pathological examination of the surgical specimen.
We discuss the clinicopathological, imaging, and histological features of this tumor through a review of the literature.