Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst: from antenatal diagnosis to surgery

Ciliated hepatic foregut cyst is the only ciliated cystic lesion known to occur in the liver. It is an extremely rare, benign and solitary cyst that probably arises from remnants of the embryonic foregut in the liver. We report a 16-month-old girl who underwent surgical excision of a hepatic cyst discovered during antenatal ultrasonography. Surgical exploration and excision were performed because of the uncertain aetiology of the cyst and because on postnatal follow-up US the size of the mass had increased causing extrinsic biliary obstruction. Pathology revealed a ciliated hepatic foregut cyst. This is the fourth child affected by this lesion reported in the literature, the second undergoing surgical excision, and the second with antenatal diagnosis.