Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor: A Rarely Seen Submucosal Lesion of the Stomach

Abstract

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal benign tumor which is generally seen in children and in young adults. It is especially located in the lungs. In histopathological examination, neoplastic fusiform cells originating from a subtype of accessory immune system cells which are called fibroblastic reticulum cells are seen (Kouichi and Youichirou, 2008). Although IMT is histopathologically benign, imaging methods show its tendency for local recurrence and invasion. In most of the cases, it may not be possible to make a distinction whether it is malign or benign. Complete surgical resection is the most important treatment method. In this study, we have discussed the findings of our case having a gastric submucosal located IMT in light of the current literatures.

Computed tomographic features of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour of the stomach in adult patients: An analysis of five multicentre cases with literature review

“…Because IMTs are composed of various inflammatory cells, fibroblasts and collagen deposits, it has been hypothesised that these tumours are a reactive, reparative result of a previous infection (such as Epstein–Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), Campylobacter jejuni , actinomycetes, or Pseudomonas veronii ), trauma or surgical operation . Chromosomal variations, such as abnormalities in the ALK gene, are another potential pathogenesis of IMT . As shown in Table , all five of our patients were middle‐aged women.…”

“…Therefore, for thorough diagnostic workup, contrast‐enhanced abdominal CT is usually performed under suspicion of malignancy. To date, only nine sporadic case reports focusing on the clinical, endoscopic or pathological features of gastric IMTs in adult patients have been published with brief descriptions of concurrently performed CT scans . With our five cases included, we evaluated the CT features of 14 adult cases of gastric IMTs.…”

“…Incomplete resection leads to increased risk of local tumour recurrence within 1 year . For cases in which complete resection cannot be done or in cases of metastatic disease, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, along with steroid and non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, can be used as alternative treatments …”

“…These variable radiological features could be due to varying degrees of fibrosis, cellular infiltration and dynamic changes in the inflammatory process. Because IMT rarely occurs in adults, particularly in the stomach, most previous reports of gastric IMT were of single cases . Also, to the best of our knowledge, those reports focused on the clinical or pathological aspects of the tumour and not on radiological features.…”

“…Because IMT rarely occurs in adults, particularly in the stomach, 3,8,9 most previous reports of gastric IMT were of single cases. 9,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Also, to the best of our knowledge, those reports focused on the clinical or pathological aspects of the tumour and not on radiological features. Therefore, we report five cases of gastric IMTs in adult patients from four tertiary referral centres with a description of the radiological features on CT, along with a review of the literature on such tumours.…”