INFLAMMATORY PSEUDOTUMOR OF THE LIVER - A RARE ENTITY AND A DIAGNOSTIC CHALLENGE

Inflammatory pseudotumors are rare benign lesions that occur throughou t the body. Hepatic pseudotumors are uncommon lesions, accompanied by fever, malaise, abdominal pain, and mass effect, and therefore are com monly misdiagnosed as malignant tumors or liver abscesses, Because eve n routine imaging procedures usually fail to differentiate hepatic pse udotumors from liver neoplasms, a diagnostic histology procedure is us ually needed. We present a case of hepatic pseudotumor that resolved s pontaneously and review the literature, including 40 previously report ed cases and the differential diagnosis. (Am J Gastroenterol 1998;93:1 538-1540, (C) 1998 by Am. Cell, of Gastroenterology).