[Pseudotumoral form of abdominal tuberculosis: report of four cases]

To report the imaging features of four cases of pseudo-tumoral abdominal tuberculosis in order to demonstrate diagnostic difficulties, even in endemic areas, despite expanding imaging modalities.

We have retrospectively reviewed four cases investigated in our hospital between 1998 and 2002. The first case concerned a 2 year and 6 month old boy admitted for a right iliac fossa mass. The other patients were 43 and 48 year old women admitted for epigastric mass and persistent epigastric pain with past history of treated tuberculosis respectively. The last was an 86 year old man investigated because progressive worsening of general health. Sonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) were performed in all four cases.

Involvement of the ileocaecal region was noted in three cases. Large intestinal hypervascular mass in the pediatric case, heterogeneous mass with porta hepatis lymph node in the patient with past history of treated tuberculosis, pseudotumoral caecal wall thickening in the third case. The multiloculated pattern of the epigastric mass and its location initially suggested a diagnosis of pancreatic tumor.

Abdominal tuberculosis is rare even in endemic areas. This diagnosis must be considered when imaging modalities depict a hypervascular soft tissue mass on Doppler examination with peripheral enhancement on CT scan.