Intrathoracic accessory liver lobe in a 3-year-old girl: a case report
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: Background An accessory liver lobe within the thoracic cavity is an extremely rare congenital anomaly. It is usually asymptomatic and detected incidentally in adults, whereas pediatric patients more often present with recurrent respiratory symptoms or chest pain. Case Presentation A 3-year-old girl, born full term as part of a twin pregnancy with an unremarkable antenatal and perinatal history, was evaluated for recurrent lower respiratory tract infections from 11 months of age, requiring multiple emergency visits and at least two hospital admissions with a diagnosis of pneumonia. She was well developed, with normal chest wall configuration and symmetrical chest expansion, but auscultation consistently revealed reduced air entry at the left lung base. Chest radiography demonstrated a persistent opacity in the left lower hemithorax. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed a well-defined hypervascular soft-tissue mass in the left lower thorax measuring 5.7 × 4.7 cm, enhancing identically to hepatic parenchyma and draining venously into the right main portal vein without a clearly identifiable arterial supply. Technetium-99m liver–spleen scintigraphy demonstrated normally positioned liver and spleen with homogeneous uptake, plus an additional focus of tracer uptake in the lower left thorax of similar intensity to the liver, with a pedicle-like connection to the left hepatic lobe. Magnetic resonance imaging further delineated a 6.4 × 5.8 × 5.7 cm intrathoracic mass with liver-equivalent signal intensity, connected to the left hepatic lobe by a pedicle traversing a diaphragmatic defect. The patient underwent elective combined laparoscopic and thoracoscopic excision with division of the vascular pedicle and primary diaphragmatic repair. Her postoperative course was uneventful, and histopathology confirmed benign liver tissue. Conclusion Although exceptionally rare, intrathoracic accessory liver lobes should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pediatric patients presenting with intrathoracic masses.
Language: English
Subfield: Surgery
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,130
OpenAlex ID: W7128546421