Inflammatory pseudotumor of the spleen: a case report

We report on an inflammatory pseudotumor of the spleen. A 72-year-old woman visited our hospital complaining of nausea. Physical examination and laboratory investigations were unremarkable. Ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and angiography showed a hypovascular splenic mass measuring about 5 cm in diameter with a calcification in the center of the lesion. Splenectomy was performed. The removed spleen, weighing 145 g, contained a tan-white, circumscribed mass, measuring 6.2 x 5.5 x 5.3 cm. Histologically, the splenic mass was composed of an admixture of inflammatory cellular elements, predominantly plasma cells and lymphocytes with hyalinization, fibrosis, lymph follicles and multinuclear giant cells, suggestive of a inflammatory pseudotumor. The patient is currently alive and asymptomatic, 24 months after surgery. Inflammatory pseudotumors of the spleen are extremely rare and only 39 cases have been reported in the medical literature.