Symptoms are variable and include abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. Symptoms often persist for a year or more. Physical examination may be unremarkable or may reveal abdominal tenderness or a palpable mass. Radiologically, upper gastrointestinal and barium enema examinations may demonstrate displacement of bowel loops by a mesenteric mass with the jejunal mesentery most frequently involved. Bowel loops may be dilated, fixed or narrowed, but complete obstruction is rare.
Fibrosis causes retraction of the mesentery.
Bowel loop narrowing and spiculation mimic neoplastic disease or carcinoid tumor when the fibrotic component of this process predominates. Occasionally, ureteral obstruction is visible. CT provides the best means of imaging this lesion. When the process is focal and fat attenuation is noted, it may mimic a teratomatous or liposarcomatous tumor. Although calcification is frequently noted on histologic examination, it is rarely seen radiographically.