Abstract

Ectopic liver in the umbilicus is very rare, and a few cases have been reported in the world. It is thought that an increased intraabdominal pressure resulting in entrapment of liver cell nests causes the presence of liver in the umbilicus. It relates to neonatal problem such as infection. We report a case of ectopic umbilical liver in a stillborn male of 28 gestational weeks. His mother discovered loss of fetal movement 2 days before admission, and intrauterine fetal death was diagnosed by ultrasonography. Grossly, the umbilical cord was markedly swollen. On cut section, a well circumscribed, oval round, tan-colored soft mass was noted within the cord. Histologically, it consisted of hepatic cords without bile ducts. The umbilical vessels were distorted by the ectopic liver, and contained thrombi. These findings suggest that ectopic umbilical liver results in the intrauterine fetal death

• Keywords: Ectopic liver;Umbilical cord;Fetal death