IgG4-related retroperitoneal fibrosis

What it is

A rare systemic autoimmune disease characterized by mass-forming, potentially destructive inflammation and fibrosis in the soft tissues of the retroperitoneum, associated with elevation of serum IgG4 levels and infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells in at least one organ or site. Most frequent locations are peripheral to the abdominal aorta, as well as the iliac and renal arteries. Clinical symptoms are unspecific and include abdominal pain, back pain, and edema of the lower extremities. The condition may occur together with IgG4-related disease in other parts of the body.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (annual incidence, Europe)

Age of onset

Adult

Inheritance

Not applicable, Unknown

Classified as

Clinical subtype

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Cross-references