Hepatic peliosis in a newborn - A case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatic peliosis is a rare benign vascular disorder characterized by dilatation of sinusoidal blood-filled spaces within the liver. It often remains asymptomatic and is diagnosed incidentally in an autopsy. Herein, we report a case of a 1-day-old female newborn who was admitted to the neonatal resuscitation unit for abdominal distension.

Case presentation: An abdominal examination revealed a firm mass with irregular contours in the upper quadrant of the abdomen, indicating hepatomegaly. Radiological explorations confirmed the hepatomegaly, and an ultrasound-guided liver biopsy showed the presence of multiple blood cavities with sinusoidal dilation typical of hepatic peliosis.

Discussion: None of the known risk factors were found in this case except antihistaminic drug consumption during pregnancy by the mother, which could possibly have a link, although never described.

Conclusion: In this article, we report a case of neonatal hepatic peliosis likely secondary to antihistaminic consumption during pregnancy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the fifth reported case (based on the MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases) of neonatal hepatic peliosis.

Keywords: Case report; Hepatic peliosis; Hepatomegaly; Neonatal; Newborn; Peliosis hepatis.