Hepatoblastoma of the adult with pericardial metastasis: A case report

Background Hepatoblastoma is the most frequent liver tumor in children, but very rare in the adult and associated with an unfavorable prognosis. The diagnosis is always postoperative or post mortem and biopsy is not useful. Surgery is the only accepted treatment. Case presentation Our patient underwent surgery in the suspect of liver metastasis from a previous gastric cancer. Surgery consisted in left lobectomy with partial diaphragm resection and partial pericardiectomy for a pericardial lesion, found after the opening of the thorax. The diaphragm defect was corrected with a biological mesh. Results The histopathological examination indicated hepatoblastoma of the adult with pericardial metastases. The patient was asymptomatic and without recurrence after 21 months of follow up. Conclusion The hepatoblastoma of the adult is related to a poor prognosis with median survival time less than 5 months. Surgery is the only curative treatment, but in many cases tumor resection requires complex operations. Vascular and thoracic expertise could be useful in the management of hepatoblastoma.