Peritoneal carcinomatosis and its mimics: Review of CT findings for differential diagnosis

Abstract

Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) indicates the metastasis of a malignant neoplasm to the peritoneal surface. PC can be incidentally detected before discovery of the primary malignancy during an imaging study. There are other conditions that can mimic PC, such as pseudomyxoma peritonei, peritoneal lymphomatosis, peritoneal malignant mesothelioma, leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata, and tuberculous peritonitis. These diseases may appear similar on computed tomography (CT), but there are some clues for the differential diagnosis. This article will describe the CT findings of PC and its mimics for the differential diagnosis.