Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for the Characterization of Infantile Hepatic Hemangioma in Premature Neonate

Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) is a relatively new imaging method for use in children. It is recognized as a safe and easily performed problem-solving method. A premature 10-day-old female infant experienced unusual persistent anemia. The diagnostic workup for the anemia included an abdominal ultrasound examination, which showed pathological formation in the left middle quadrant. MRI was used to further asses the lesion and showed a hypervascular lesion with necrotic areas rising from the left hepatic lobe, mainly showing the pattern that indicates an infantile hepatic hemangioma. Main differential diagnosis, hepatoblastoma, could not be excluded. The crucial examination used to differentiate was CEUS.