ABSTRACT
Inflammatory myofibroblastic (IMF) tumor is a rare solid tumor that often affects children. IMF tumors occur primarily in the lung, but the tumor may affect any organ system with protean manifestations. A 22-year-old woman was evaluated for palpable low abdominal mass that had been increasing in size since two months prior. Abdominal computed tomography showed a lobulated, heterogeneous contrast enhancing soft tissue mass, 6.5 x 5.7 cm in size in the ileal mesentery. At surgery, the mass originated from the greater omentum laying in the pelvic cavity and was completely excised without tumor spillage. Histologically, the mass was a spindle cell lesion with severe atypism and some mitosis. Immunohistochemistry for anaplastic lymphoma kinase-1 revealed that the lesion was an IMF tumor. Because of its local invasiveness and its tendency to recur, this tumor can be confused with a soft tissue sarcoma. Increasing physician awareness of this entity should facilitate recognition of its clinical characteristics and laboratory findings.