| Manifestation/imaging finding | Differential diagnosis |
| Progressive symptoms | Cystadenoma, cystadenocarcinoma, metastasis |
| Abnormal hepatic biochemical tests | Cystadenocarcinoma, metastasis |
| Rapid growth on periodic follow-up | Cystadenoma, cystadenocarcinoma, metastasis |
| Calcifications or daughter cysts | Echinococcal cyst |
| Thick or irregular cyst wall | Cystadenoma, cystadenocarcinoma, metastasis, echinococcal cyst |
| Nonhomogeneous cyst content | Cystadenoma, cystadenocarcinoma, echinococcal cyst, bleeding into a simple cyst |
| Sepations or multilocular cyst space | Cystadenoma, cystadenocarcinoma, echinococcal cyst, bleeding into a simple cyst |
