Incidental finding on liver - panicked

[Drgoogleaddict]

I recently had an MRI for a lump on my rib/chest and the doctor called me to give me the results. The good news is that it seemed benign and the advice is to watch it over time. My relief lasted only a minute because he then told me the MRI also showed a lesion on my liver and they would like me to back in for another MRI to investigate it. He said it was small and under a cm; however, I was almost speechless.

Of course I research google, but this time search for benign outcomes. It sounds fairly normal to find lesions in the liver when you're not looking, but it doesn't make me any less stressed.

Any words of encouragement or experience with something similar would be appreciated.

[Airisto]

Hello, I wanted to check up and find out your results, that’s so good to hear your lump was nothing of concern, I am sorry to hear about the lesions, may I ask how old you are? I could be very wrong but I remember hearing somewhere that stuff like that can just be the result of aging. It could have been there for years and never caused you any concern! I hope you don’t panick too much over this. Best wishes.

[nomorepanic]

I have a lesion on my adrenal gland that was found on a CT scan. It has grown from 1 cm to 3 cm in 9 years. They monitor it and are not doing anything to treat it or remove it.

[Drgoogleaddict]

Thanks for your replies.

I am late 30's male, slim and in good health with no major risk factors as far as I know. My initial ultrasound a few months ago did show some non-alcoholic fatty liver though. My HA was never really an issue until I had kids - that changed everything for me.

[NancyW]

Incidental finding on my liver as well, it's a hemangioma completely benign.

[Drgoogleaddict]

Incidental finding on my liver as well, it's a hemangioma completely benign.

Hi Nancy, thanks for sharing. Was the hemangioma confirmed in the incidental scan or did you have to go back and repeat for confirmation of what it was?

[ta333]

I also had an incidental finding on my liver last year, as well as a non alcoholic fatty liver. I had to get an MRI with contrast to check it out. It ended up being focal nodular hyperplasia, which is completely benign. They'll just watch it every year. I know how hard it is to get that news. Just remember that most lesions are benign. And the fact that yours is so small really is a good sign (mine was 3 cm). Good luck.

[Halle0587]

Same-hemangioma on mine. Try not to stress about it.

[NancyW]

Hi Nancy, thanks for sharing. Was the hemangioma confirmed in the incidental scan or did you have to go back and repeat for confirmation of what it was?

Initially it was found by ultrasound for my gallbladder. They confirmed with a liver CT scan. Follow up ultrasound 6 months later to confirm it is stable.

That was 24 years ago. :-)

[lofwyr]

We are filled with things that we never know about that get found incidentally. During a scan of my aneurysm, they found two lung nodules. I lost my mind initially, turns out there is almost zero chance of malignancy.

Sometimes I think those like us are better not knowing, but the truth is millions and millions of folks have cysts, nodules, and legions inside us and never know it, and they are not cancer.

Hang in there, incidental findings suck, but it sounds like your is probably nothing to worry about.