Hepatoblastoma: A rare cause of non-immune hydrops in a preterm infant

E. Al Awad∗, H. Obaid, D. Clark, A. Narendran, H. Amin and A. Lodha | JNPM 2012;

Abstract. A preterm infant with signs of non-immune hydrops was born at 30 weeks gestation to a 34-year-old mother after an uneventful pregnancy with normal antenatal fetal ultrasound scans. Physical examination revealed generalized hydrops with hepatomegaly and ascites. Extensive investigations identified an elevated -fetoprotein. An abdominal ultrasound scan showed a huge primary solid mass in the liver that compressed the inferior vena cava, with evidence of significant arterio-venous shunting suggestive of hepatoblastoma. Liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of hepatoblastoma with a fetal epithelial pattern.

*Corresponding Author: 

Dr. Essa Hamdan Al Awad, Division of Neonatology, Peter Lougheed Centre, University of Calgary, 3500, 26th Ave, NW, Calgary, AB T1Y6J4, Canada. Tel.: +1 403 943 4892; Fax: +1 403 943 2565; E-mail: essa.al-awad@albertahealthservices.ca.