Kidney inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor masquerading as metastatic malignancy: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare mesenchymal tumor that is characterized by spindle cells differentiated from muscle fibroblasts and infiltration of various types of inflammatory cells. IMT can occur at any age and at any anatomic site. The most common location of IMT is the bladder in the genitourinary tract. Only scarce cases of kidney IMT have been reported in the literature. CASE SUMMARY: A 77-year-old woman, with a history of bilateral renal calculus for 15 years, was admitted to the Department of Urology of our hospital complaining of recurrent painless gross hematuria for one month. The treatment with cephalosporin was ineffective. Computed tomography imaging showed a mixed density and slightly heterogeneously enhanced lesion in the middle pole of the left kidney and ipsilateral adrenal enlargement. The patient underwent surgical treatment by retroperitoneoscopic left radical nephrectomy plus adrenalectomy. A large number of typical spindle cells surrounded by plasma cells and lymphocytes were observed microscopically. Immunohistochemical analyses indicated that these spindle cells were positive for vimentin, cytokeratin (CK), Ki-67, CK7, CD34, and CD31 and were focally positive for CD10 and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK-1). Thus, a diagnosis of IMT was made definitively. The patient recovered well after operation, and no recurrence or metastasis was noted during the 22-mo follow-up. CONCLUSION: Since kidney IMT is very rare and lacks characteristic clinical manifestation, it is easily misdiagnosed as a malignant tumor before operation. Surgery remains the best choice for diagnosis and treatment, and such cases must be followed carefully because of the uncertain biological behavior of this tumor. This report suggests that renal calculus may be one of the causes of IMT, but further investigation is necessary to prove it.