Abdominal inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor: report on four cases and review of literature.
BACKGROUND
The Abdominal Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor (AIMT) is a rare tumor with unknown etiology which usually occurs in children and adolescents. It is composed of myofibroblastic spindle cells intermixed with inflammatory cells. We present four cases of AIMT.


METHODS
WE HEREIN PRESENT FOUR CASES OF AIMT IN DIFFERENT AGES (RANGE: 3.5 to 13 years) and in different organs (stomach, periduodenal, mesenteric, and colon). There were two females and two males. The main symptoms were abdominal pain/mass/obstruction, vomiting, and weight loss. In all four patients, diagnosis was made by laparatomy and pathologic examination of excised mass lesion. Three patients underwent complete excision and no residual disease was present, one patient received chemotherapy due to tumor recurrences. The patients were followed up in average for four years.


CONCLUSIONS
As the imaging and laboratory tests are non-specific, the diagnosis of AIMT is rarely made before surgery. AIMT should, therefore, be considered when a mass arises in an unusual location in the pediatric age group. Complete surgical resection should be performed whenever possible and the child should be kept on long-term follow-up.
Pediatric Surgery Research Center, Mofid Children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Alireza
A
Mirshemirani
Ahmad Khaleghnejad
AK
Tabari
Naser
N
Sadeghian
Siamak
S
Shariat-Torbaghan
Marina
M
Pourafkari
Leila
L
Mohajerzadeh