Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumour of the Skull Base

Copyright © 2013 Jean-Philippe Maire et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) are rare benign clinical and pathological entities. IMTs have been described in the lungs, abdomen, retroperitoneum, and extremities but rarely in the head and neck region. A 38-year-old man presented with headache, right exophthalmia, and right 6th nerve palsy. ACT scan revealed enlargement of the right cavernous sinus and osteolytic lesions of the right sphenoid and clivus. MR imaging showed a large tumor of the skull base which was invading the sella turcica, right cavernous sinus, and sphenoidal sinus. A biopsy was performed and revealed an IMT. Corticosteroids were given for 3 months but were inefficient. In the framework of our pluridisciplinary consultation, fractionated conformal radiotherapy (FRT) was indicated at a low dose; 20Gy in 10 fractions of 2Gy over 12 days were delivered. Clinical response was complete 3 months after FRT. Radiological response was subtotal 6 months after FRT. Two years later, the patient is well. 1