Inflammatory pseudotumors

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Inflammatory pseudotumor of the sinonasal tract.” (J Formos Med Assoc. 2007 Feb;106(2):165-8). Authors are Chuang CC, Lin HC and Huang CW, from the Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei City Hospital Yang-Ming Branch, Taipei, Taiwan. Inflammatory pseudotumors (IPTs) are a clinically and histologically diverse group of lesions characterized by a tumor mass of acute and chronic inflammatory cells with a variable fibrous response. IPTs most commonly involve the lung and orbit, but rarely the sinonasal tract. The authors report a 68-year-old male with an IPT of the sinonasal tract presenting as nasal obstruction and postnasal dripping for several years. Pathology revealed admixture of plasma cells, lymphocytes and eosinophils, confirming the diagnosis of IPT. Awareness of the clinical presentations, histopathologic features and treatment of choice of this rare disease entity is necessary to distinguish it from malignancy and avoid unnecessary management. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.