Common intrahepatic nodules include liver cysts, hepatic hemangiomas, primary liver cancer, and metastatic liver cancer.
Hepatic cysts are the most common hepatic nodules. Generally, patients with hepatic cysts are treated as normal, and those smaller than 5 cm do not produce symptoms and do not require treatment and are reviewed regularly. Benign liver cysts are congenital disorders that are multiple and some are very large and can be drained by minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery to open the window and draw out the cystic fluid.
Hepatic hemangiomas are also benign lesions that have a long survival period even after cure. Hepatic hemangiomas are caused by abnormal blood vessel development. Small hepatic hemangiomas do not require treatment, as long as they are reviewed regularly. If the hemangioma keeps growing, there is a risk of rupture and bleeding, and interventional treatment or removal of the hepatic hemangioma is an option.
Primary hepatocellular carcinoma is also a type of liver nodule. Patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma can have a survival period of about 10 years after cure, and patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma have a survival period of 3 months to 2 years. Liver metastases are metastases from breast, colorectal, and lung cancer to the liver. If liver metastases occur, they are generally advanced tumors and survival is generally less than two years.