In most cases, a liver hemangioma doesn't cause any signs or symptoms.

When a liver hemangioma causes signs and symptoms, they may include:

• Pain in the upper right abdomen
• Feeling full after eating only a small amount of food
• Nausea
• Vomiting

However, these symptoms are nonspecific and may be due to something else, even if you have a liver hemangioma.

It's not clear what causes a liver hemangioma to form. Doctors believe liver hemangiomas are congenital — meaning that you're born with them.

A liver hemangioma usually occurs as a single abnormal collection of blood vessels that is less than about 1.5 inches (about 4 centimeters) wide. Occasionally liver hemangiomas can be larger or occur in multiples. Large hemangiomas can occur in young children but this is very rare.

In most people, a liver hemangioma will never grow and never cause any signs and symptoms. But in a small number of people, a liver hemangioma will grow to cause complications and require treatment. It's not clear why this happens.

Factors that can increase the risk that a liver hemangioma will cause signs and symptoms include:

• Your age. A liver hemangioma can be diagnosed at any age, but it's most commonly diagnosed in people ages 30 to 50.
• Your sex. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with a liver hemangioma than men are.
• Pregnancy. Women who have been pregnant are more likely to be diagnosed with a liver hemangioma than women who have never been pregnant. It's believed the hormone estrogen, which rises during pregnancy, may play a role in liver hemangioma growth.
• Hormone replacement therapy. Women who used hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms may be more likely to be diagnosed with a liver hemangioma than women who did not.

Women who have been diagnosed with liver hemangiomas face a risk of complications if they become pregnant. The female hormone estrogen, which increases during pregnancy, is believed to cause some liver hemangiomas to grow larger.