Systemic inflammatory pseudotumor, an unusual cause of fever of unknown origin mimicking a malignant lymphomatous process: case-report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE In recent years, a new pathologic condition Eth called inflammatory pseudotumor Eth has been occasionally described to involve many different tissues or organs. However, evidence for systemic involvement is lacking and a review of the topic potentially useful, also considering the clinical features mimicking hematologic malignancies or other clinically relevant conditions. We report a case of systemic inflammatory pseudotumor and review the literature concerning the etiopathogenesis, differential diagnosis and treatment modalities of this particular pathology. DATA SOURCES AND METHODS The data source for this topic was MEDLINE , searching all fields for inflammatory pseudotumor, inflammatory pseudotumor and lymph node or fever of unknown origin, pertaining to humans, published between 1970 and 1999. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Inflammatory pseudotumor should be considered in the differential diagnosis of malignant hematologic processes and of fever of unknown origin.