Emergency laparotomy for misdiagnosed biliary cystadenoma originating from caudate lobe

Background: Biliary cystadenoma is a rare benign neoplasm, which is often misdiagnosed for a hepatic abscess or a hydatid cyst that tends to recur and is at risk for progression to malignant neoplasm. Case presentation: This case describes a 30-year-old woman admitted to our institution in an emergency setting. The patient was originally misdiagnosed as affected by a hepatic hydatid cyst at another hospital, and then emergently treated at our Institution for severe abdominal pain. Histologic evaluation of the cyst showed that it was a biliary cystadenoma and, therefore, the patient underwent a hepatic resection in order to completely remove the lesion. Conclusion: Complete excision of any suspicious hepatic cystic lesion remains the best method for diagnosis and treatment of cystadenoma. Incomplete excision of most biliary cystadenoma results in a higher rate of recurrence and the risk of malignant transformation. We report this case to elucidate the clinical presentation, preoperative evaluation, and surgical treatment of these rare lesions. © 2006 Ramacciato et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.