[Hepatic hemangioendothelioma with interauricular communication].

A case of hepatic hemangioendothelioma in an infant of 2 1/2 months of age is presented. This case showed clinical features of this malformation: cardiac failure, severe hepatomegaly and cutaneous hemangiomata. The cardiac failure was complicated by the presence of an atrial septal defect. This symptomatology persisted after the surgical closure of the cardiac defect. The control of cardiac failure was only possible by using high doses of metil-prednisolone (2 mg/kg/day). The scheme of management in the treatment with steroids was revised, and the good results obtained in this case and in other series recorded. The use of surgical techniques (hepatic artery ligation or lobectomy), and radiotherapy, is relegated to a secondary plane by these findings.