Clinical and pathological characteristics of primary hepatic carcinoid: A report of 3 cases

Objective To study the clinical and pathological characteristics of primary hepatic carcinoid（PHC）. Methods Clinical and pathological manifestations,imaging and histopathological findings in 3 PHC patients were studied with immunohistochemical staining with the related literature reviewed.The patients were followed up. Results The clinical symptoms of PHC patients were right upper abdomen discomfort or pain.Imaging showed polycystic solitary or multiple nodules.Grossly,the tumor was greyyellow in color,polycystic and well-circumscribed.Histology showed that the tumor cells were round or oval in shape with visible eosinophilic cytoplasm.The fine granular nuclei with visible small nucleoli were observed.Immunohistochemical staining displayed that the tumor cells expressed synaptophysin（Syn）,chromogranin A（CgA）. Conclusion PHC is a rare neuroendocrine tumor originating in liver with no specific clinical symptom.Histopathological findings and positive neuroendocrine markers（Syn and CgA） contribute to its diagnosis.