The previous staging CT (not shown) has shown most of the prominent mesenteric nodes, but no fat haziness. This is a presumptive case based on imaging appearances and clinical history.
Mesenteric panniculitis is characterized by a chronic nonspecific inflammation involving the adipose tissue of the bowel mesentery. Although it is still unclear, an autoimmune response to unknown sources and ischemia of the mesentery have been proposed as pathogenetic mechanisms 1.
An association of mesenteric panniculitis and malignancy, mainly lymphoma, was previously indicated in the literature1.