Computed tomographic findings of splenic metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma in a dog.

Abstract

Splenic metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rare. An 11-year-old neutered male Maltese dog was presented for HCC recurrence surveillance. The dog had a history of transarterial chemoembolization and resection of HCC in the left medial liver lobe and papillary process of the caudate liver lobe. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a splenic mass with characteristics similar to those of the previous hepatic mass, including arterial tumor hypervascularity and heterogeneous enhancement in the portal venous and delayed venous phases. Splenic metastasis of HCC was confirmed via histopathological examination after splenectomy. Key clinical message: To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the CT findings of splenic metastasis of HCC in a dog. Splenic metastasis of HCC exhibited attenuation characteristics similar to those of the primary hepatic tumor in triple-phase CT. Therefore, comparing CT findings of previously diagnosed HCC to those of splenic masses may aid in diagnosing splenic metastasis of HCC.