Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor of the Liver: A Cohort Study Liang Tang • Eric C. H. Lai • Wen-ming Cong • Ai-jun Li • Si-yuan Fu • Ze-ya Pan • Wei-ping Zhou • Wan Yee Lau • Meng-Chao Wu Published online: 22 December 2009 Ó Socie ´te ´ Internationale de Chirurgie 2009 Abstract Background Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare condition. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes for IMT of the liver in our large cohort of patients. Methods From January 2001 to December 2007, all patients with a pathological diagnosis of IMT of the liver who underwent partial hepatectomy were retrospectively analyzed. Results During the study period, 64 patients underwent partial hepatectomy for IMT of the liver in our tertiary referral center. The commonest clinical presentation was abdominal pain (53%), followed by fever (41%); 15.6% of patients were asymptomatic. Preoperative diagnosis of IMT was suspected in only five patients (8%). The indi- cations for surgery included suspicion of malignancy (60.9%), uncertain diagnosis (40.6%), symptomatic disease (26.6%), and spontaneous rupture (3.1%). The postopera- tive complication rate was low (17.2%). There was no hospital mortality. After a median follow-up of 30 months, no patient developed recurrence. Conclusions Although there are various treatment options for IMT of the liver, surgical resection for good risk patients is preferred. Introduction Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare condi- tion. There are a variety of synonyms for this tumor including plasma cell granuloma, postinflammatory tumor, xanthom- atous pseudotumor, inflammatory pseudotumor, and inflammatory fibrosarcoma [1]. By definition, the tumor is composed of dominant spindle cell proliferation with a variable inflammatory component. These spindle cells are now known to be myofibroblasts, and this is the reason for the current designation for this disease. Inflammatory myofib- roblastic tumor may affect individuals of any age, but it has a predilection for children and young adults. It is most com- monly found in the lung, but is also reported in the central nervous system, salivary glands, larynx, breast, pancreas, spleen, lymph nodes, skin, and liver [2, 3]. As the synonyms suggest, there has been some confusion as to whether IMT is truly neoplastic or whether it represents a reactive prolifer- ation of myofibroblastic cells. It is now generally accepted that IMT is a true neoplasm. These lesions have a benign behavior, but the possibility of malignant transformation exists [4, 5]. The present study was designed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and surgical outcome based on the largest series of IMT of the liver in the medical literature. Materials and methods From January 2001 to December 2007, all patients with a pathological diagnosis of IMT of the liver who underwent L. Tang Á A. Li Á S. Fu Á Z. Pan Á W. Zhou (&) Á W. Y. Lau Á M.-C. Wu Third Department of Hepatic Surgery, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, People’s Republic of China e-mail: EHPHWP@126.com E. C. H. Lai Á W. Y. Lau Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China W. Cong Department of Pathology, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200438, People’s Republic of China 123 World J Surg (2010) 34:309–313 DOI 10.1007/s00268-009-0330-x