title: Mesenteric liposarcoma or lipodystrophy: an elusive diagnosis.
abstract: Mass lesions of the mesentery may be fortuitously encountered on computerized tomographic (CT) scans, posing a diagnostic challenge. Despite CT, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and a surgical biopsy, a patient with mesenteric lipodystrophy was misdiagnosed as having a low-grade mesenteric liposarcoma. Spontaneous regression of the mass on control CT scan and review of the pathological material prompted us to reconsider the diagnosis of malignancy. Because a wide variety of tumors and pseudotumors produce alterations in the density and volume of mesenteric fat on CT scan, a surgical biopsy is usually necessary to obtain a tissue-specific diagnosis, but even then pathological findings may be equivocal. As final resort the natural evolution assessed by radiological follow-up can be of help in determining the nature of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, St Elisabeth Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fremault
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heylen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Delugeau
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landen
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008080:Liposarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008643:Mesentery / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015436:Panniculitis, Peritoneal / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010534:Peritoneal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed