Nonsurgical diagnosis and management of an inflammatory pseudotumor of the spleen in a child

Abstract

Primary splenic tumors in children are rare and usually benign. We report the case of a 7-year-old boy with a splenic mass that initially resembled an infectious process. Histopathologic examination of a specimen obtained using sonographically guided Tru-cut needle biopsy, performed after angiography, revealed an inflammatory pseudotumor of the spleen, an extremely rare benign lesion. The lesion has been managed conservatively with clinical and sonographic follow-up. This case shows that benign lesions of the spleen can easily be diagnosed using current radiologic and histopathologic techniques without the need for surgery, thus allowing total or even partial splenectomy to be reserved for patients in whom a mass cannot be diagnosed or in whom clinical progression is evident. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.