Published online Jul 14, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i26.3645
Revised: March 28, 2007
Accepted: April 18, 2007
Published online: July 14, 2007
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) of the alimentary tract often occurs in children or young adults, but may occur at any age. Symptoms are nonspecific and depend on the location of the tumor. The most often involved sites are small bowel mesentery especially the distal ileum, mesotransverse colon, or great omentum. Recurrence appears to be more frequent in the extrapulmonary lesion. Herein we demonstrate a 63-year-old male patient with mesenteric IMT, with an early recurrence after his first operation. We should be aware that if the tumor is larger than 8 cm, multinodular, omental, with ill-defined margin, with pathologically atypia, or ganglion-like cells, a close surveillence after primary surgery with image study might be necessary to detect the tumor recurrence early. Tumor recurrence may be asymptomatic, and it may act like a malignant tumor with a poor prognosis.