Hemorrhagic liver cyst rupture: an unusual life-threatening complication of hepatic cyst and literature review.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Hemorrhagic rupture is an extremely rare complication of hepatic cyst. Its incidence, gravity and treatment modalities are inadequately covered in the literature. Material and methods. Based on a case report concerning a 37 year-old, 13-weeks pregnant woman, presenting with hemorrhagic shock subsequent to hemorrhagic rupture of a hepatic cyst and requiring urgent surgery, a review of the literature was conducted. RESULTS To date, 11 cases have been described in the literature. This complication is particularly serious with six cases of hemorrhagic shock, three of which led to death. In the majority of cases, urgent surgical treatment is required. CONCLUSIONS Hepatic cysts are frequent benign tumors of the liver which are most often discovered fortuitously. Hemorrhagic rupture is the rarest associated complication, yet requires to be known for it is both serious and lethal and necessitates urgent surgical intervention.