Ischemic fasciitis

Ischemic fasciities (IF), also termed atypical decubital fibroplasia or decubital ischemic fasciitis, is a rare pseudosarcomatous (i.e. easily mistaken for a sarcoma) tumor. It was first described by E. A. Montgomery et al. in 1992. This tumor typically forms in the subcutaneous tissues (i.e. lower most tissue layer of the skin) that overlie bony protuberances such as a hip in individuals who are debilitated and bed-ridden.

Microscopically, IF lesions consist of proliferating, atypical fibroblasts and/or myofibroblasts. The lesions were initially regarded as non-neoplastic proliferation responses of these cell types to long-term tissue pressure or trauma. More recently, however, the World Health Organization, 2020, defined IF lesions as neoplasms, i.e. tissue growths which are uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue and persist in growing even if the original trigger for their development is removed. The Organization formally classified IF lesions as belonging to the category of benign fibroblastic and myofibroblastic tumors.

The treatment of choice for these often disfiguring, uncomfortable, and/or painful IF tumors is generally conservative, local surgical excision. It is critically important that these benign tumors be distinguished from other fasciitis tumors as well as certain sarcomas which can be highly invasive and/or malignant and therefor require far more aggressive treatment.