Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) manifestations in the head-and-neck: A narrative review with a focus on imaging

Abstract

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is an autoimmune fibrosclerotic inflammatory condition with distinctive histopathological findings affecting various organ systems. The disease can be tumefactive or “mass-like” in morphology, or less commonly, infiltrative. Many historic and well-known disease entities are manifestations of IgG4-RD in different organs. Radiologists need to be aware of this multifaceted disorder and its systemic nature. We searched Pubmed and Embase using the keywords “head and neck,” “IgG4-related disease,” and “imaging.” We included the relevant review articles published in the English language from 1997 to 2021, whose major area of discussion was IgG4-RD manifestations in the head-and-neck. Filters applied for inclusion were: “full text,” “humans,” “English,” “cancer,” article type: “review,” “meta-analysis,” “systematic review,” and “guideline.” In this review article, we have discussed the wide spectrum of manifestations of this disease at different head-and-neck subsites to familiarize radiologists with this interesting disease entity.

Keywords

• aortitis
• autoimmune pancreatitis
• igg4 disease
• kuttner tumor
• mikulicz disease
• retroperitoneal fibrosis
• riedel thyroiditis
• sclerosing cholangitis
• tumor mimics