title: Inflammatory pseudotumor of the liver mimicking a malignancy: case report.
abstract: Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) is a rare lesion of the liver that can be clinically indistinguishable from a malignant tumor. A 51-year-old woman was hospitalized for upper abdominal pain and a weight loss of 5 Kg in 2 months. Radiological examination showed a large heterogenous hypervascular mass in the left lobe of her liver, strongly in favor of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, an ultrasound-guided liver biopsy revealed the typical characteristics of IPT, which consist of plump spindle cells with dense inflammatory cell infiltration. A left lobectomy was performed. No microorganisms were found on stained sections. The markedly elevated eosinophil count reverted to normal postoperatively and she remained well on follow-up examination 8 months after discharge. This case exemplifies the difficulty in radiological diagnosis of hepatic IPT and underscores the importance of its histological differentiation from malignancy before laparotomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006104:Granuloma, Plasma Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography