Giant Metastatic Liver Tumor of Unknown Primary Origin: Thoracic Autopsy Solves the Mystery

Mitselou, Antigony; Papadatos, Stamatis S.; Tsoultsidou, Savvina; Fragkouli, Kleio; Mitsis, Michail; Vougiouklakis, Theodoros; Galani, Vasiliki

doi:10.14712/18059694.2018.14

Acta Medica > Archive > 2017, Vol. 60 > Issue 4 > Giant Metastatic Liver Tumor of Unknown…

Acta Med. 2017, 60: 163-166

https://doi.org/10.14712/18059694.2018.14

Giant Metastatic Liver Tumor of Unknown Primary Origin: Thoracic Autopsy Solves the Mystery

Antigony Mitselou^a, Stamatis S. Papadatos^b, Savvina Tsoultsidou^a, Kleio Fragkouli^a, Michail Mitsis^c, Theodoros Vougiouklakis^a, Vasiliki Galani^d

^aDepartment of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, University of Ioannina, Greece
^b3rd Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens School of Medicine, Sotiria General Hospital, Athens, Greece
^cDepartment of Surgery, University of Ioannina, Greece
^dDepartment of Anatomy-Histology-Embryology, University of Ioannina, Greece

Received June 26, 2017
Accepted January 22, 2018

A 59-year-old male patient was hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Department for investigation of hepatic metastases from an unknown primary neoplasm. During the hospitalization the patient died from acute myocardial infarction. The autopsy revealed a 8.2 kilograms (kg) liver that was diffusely infiltrated by whitish metastatic masses. No other tumor was detected, apart from a 2.5 centimeters (cm) pulmonary nodule next to the right intermediate bronchus that was histologically compatible with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Despite the fact that hepatic metastases from SCLCs are common, diffuse metastatic hepatomegaly from a malignant pulmonary nodule are rarely seen. Given that the most common cause of malignancy-related death is lung cancer, early diagnosis and appropriate management of pulmonary nodules is of paramount importance.