Source: Annual Congress 2008 - Mediastinal lesions; rare pathology
Disease area: Thoracic oncology

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Thymomas, lymphomas, and germ cell tumors are the most frequent lesions of the anterior mediastinum, whereas bronchogenic cysts and lymphomas are the most frequent lesions of the middle and neurogenic tumors and soft-tissue sarcomas of posterior mediastinum.
We present our experience in treating 81 patients with different mediastinal tumors analyzing our results.
MATERIAL & METHOD: Eighty-one patients, 47 men (58%) and 34 women ranging in age from 16 to 81 years were admitted to our department for a mediastinal tumor. Thymomas, lymphomas, neurinomas and metastatic neoplasms were the most frequent in our series, while there were also rare entities such as neurogenic cysts, echinococcus, teratomas and neurofibromatosis.
Clinical examination, chest X-ray and CT scan were the diagnostic tools of choice. Depending on tumor location the approach used in order to biopsy them, was mediastinoscopy, mediastinotomy and thoracotomy. For tumors such as thymoma median sternotomy was the most frequently applied approach. Surgical treatment was also highly recommended in patients with locally recurrent tumors and bronchogenic cysts always required resection because of their high complication rate after conservative treatment.
RESULTS: Fifty patients (61.7%) were therapeutically treated and radically operated, while in the rest 31 a biopsy was obtained and the patients were referred to the oncologists for further treatment. No perioperative deaths were observed and the recovery of all patients was uneventful.
CONCLUSION: The majority of mediastinal neoplasms need surgical excision, while the approach used should be carefully planned.

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Citations should be made in the following way:
K. Athanassiadi, S. Pispirigou, P. Kouki, N. Tzatzadakis, M. Gerazounis (Athens, Greece). Mediastinal neoplasms: one surgeon‘s experience. Eur Respir J 2008; 32: Suppl. 52, 2155

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