Diffuse Liver Metastasis of Small-Cell Lung Cancer Presenting as Acute Liver Failure and Diagnosed by Transjugular Liver Biopsy: A Rare Case in Whom Nodular Lesions Were Detected by Enhanced CT Examination

Abstract

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a subgroup of lung cancer with a high frequency of liver metastasis, which is a predictor of poor prognosis. Diffuse liver metastases of SCLC with no visible nodular lesions in the liver when examined using computed tomography (CT) are relatively rare; however, a few cases with rapid progression to acute liver failure that were diagnosed after death have been reported. In this paper, we report a 63-year-old man with diffuse liver metastases of SCLC that were histologically diagnosed using a transjugular liver biopsy while the patient was alive, even though no lesions were visible during a contrast-enhanced CT examination.