Inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung in adults: radiographic and clinicopathological analysis

Inflammatory pseudotumors of the lung are rare in adults. We treated 7 patients with such tumors and describe the histological evidence, radiographic findings, and surgical treatment. In 5 patients, lung cancer was suspected preoperatively on the basis of the radiographic findings. Intraoperatively, the gross appearance of the pleura resembled lung cancer in 6 patients; the parietal pleura was involved in 3, and pleural indentation was present in the other 3. Two patients underwent partial resection, as the frozen section revealed a benign tumor, and 5 patients underwent lobectomy for what appeared to be lung cancer or a large mass. All of the patients are doing well without other therapy. We believe the lesion should be differentiated from lung cancer at operation by frozen sections, even though this proved pertinent in only 2 of the 7 patients. Limited resection is recommended if the lesion is an inflammatory pseudotumor.