title: Mesenteric panniculitis presenting as a multilocular cystic mesenteric mass: CT and MR evaluation.
abstract: Mesenteric panniculitis is a non-neoplastic, inflammatory process affecting the adipose tissue of the mesentery in adults with slight male predilection. Typical computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings are of either diffuse mesenteric infiltration or nodular mesenteric masses. We encountered a case of mesenteric panniculitis in a 26-year-old woman with the left upper quadrant pain and fullness, in which CT and MRI disclosed a large, ill-defined, multilocular cystic mesenteric mass. After surgery, the diagnosis of mesenteric panniculitis was made. The cystic components were dilated lymphatics due to lymphatic and venous obstruction by the mesenteric panniculitis.
authors.affiliation: Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Fishman
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Hruban
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kuhlman
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008202:Lymphangioma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008639:Mesenteric Cyst / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015436:Panniculitis, Peritoneal / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed