Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMT) comprise a rare group of lesions
characterized histologically by acute and chronic inflammatory cells with a
variable degree of fibrous stroma, Occurrence in the extracranial head and
neck in children is unusual, and involvement in the pterygopalatine fossa
has not, to our knowledge, been reported as occurring in this age group. We
present the CT findings of an IMT of the pterygopalatine fossa in a 6-year
-old female patient with a 2-week history of fever and a painless swelling
of the left cheek. The diagnosis of IMT should be included in the different
ial diagnosis of a child presenting with an aggressive mass associated with
systemic features such as fever, elevated sedimentation rate, and leukocyt
osis.