Radiopathologic findings of multifocal nodular hepatic steatosis

Abstract

Multifocal nodular hepatic steatosis (MFNHS) is a rare benign clinical entity mimicking metastatic disease. This study is designed to describe the imaging and histopathologic findings and clinical course of patients with MFNHS. In this retrospective study during 2005 and 2023, 10 patients with an imaging and pathologic diagnosis of MFNHS were included. The imaging and histopathology findings were reviewed in each case. The follow-up images were reviewed to assess the clinical course of the disease. The mean age was 50.0 ± 10.5 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 4:6. Three patients had a past medical history of cancer. All patients were found to have lesions suspicious of malignancy on either ultrasound (US) or computed tomography (CT) requiring further workup. Six patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 4 patients underwent an image-guided biopsy which resulted in hepatic steatosis. During the follow-up period, the majority of patients (71.5%) remained unchanged or improved, while 2 patients (28.5%) progressed. MRI is a reliable modality in detecting and characterizing MFNHS and should be considered to further assess multiple hepatic lesions in cases where the clinical suspicion is not high for metastasis.

Keywords

• Multifocal nodular hepatic steatosis
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Metastasis