Pulmonary Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor Mimicking Septic Pulmonary Embolism Following a Dental Infection
Abstract
Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors are rare mesenchymal neoplasms that may mimic infections. A 67-year-old man developed a persistent fever after dental extraction. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple bilateral peripheral pulmonary nodules with feeding vessel signs, suggesting a septic pulmonary embolism. Despite intravenous antibiotics, his fever persisted, and blood cultures remained negative. A video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy revealed spindle cell proliferation with inflammatory infiltrates. The patient's condition deteriorated rapidly, and he developed multi-organ failure and died on hospital day 27. A subsequent immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated ALK positivity, confirming the diagnosis of an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. An early tissue diagnosis is important when a presumed infection fails to respond to treatment.
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BibTeX
@article{kanzawa2026pulmonary,
title = {{Pulmonary Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor Mimicking Septic Pulmonary Embolism Following a Dental Infection}},
author = {Yohei Kanzawa and Nobuya Sano and Masataka Ono and Shimpei Mizuki and Takahiro Nakajima and Naoto Ishimaru},
journal = {Internal Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.2169/internalmedicine.7898-26},
url = {https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/internalmedicine/advpub/0/advpub_7898-26/_article},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pulmonary Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor Mimicking Septic Pulmonary Embolism Following a Dental Infection
AU - Yohei Kanzawa
AU - Nobuya Sano
AU - Masataka Ono
AU - Shimpei Mizuki
AU - Takahiro Nakajima
AU - Naoto Ishimaru
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
JO - Internal Medicine
DO - 10.2169/internalmedicine.7898-26
UR - https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/internalmedicine/advpub/0/advpub_7898-26/_article
AB - Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors are rare mesenchymal neoplasms that may mimic infections. A 67-year-old man developed a persistent fever after dental extraction. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple bilateral peripheral pulmonary nodules with feeding vessel signs, suggesting a septic pulmonary embolism. Despite intravenous antibiotics, his fever persisted, and blood cultures remained negative. A video-assisted thoracoscopic lung biopsy revealed spindle cell proliferation with inflammatory infiltrates. The patient's condition deteriorated rapidly, and he developed multi-organ failure and died on hospital day 27. A subsequent immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated ALK positivity, confirming the diagnosis of an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. An early tissue diagnosis is important when a presumed infection fails to respond to treatment.
SN - 1349-7235
SN - 0918-2918
ER -