Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a now new, effective approach in diagnosis and treatment of thoracic diseases. Objective: To summarize and evaluate the results of VATS for mediastinal tumors. Subjects and method: A retrospective study included patients with mediastinal tumors who performed VATS in Viet Duc Hospital from March 2006 to August 2007. The measurements about age, sex, hospital-admitted reasons, tumor\u2019s size and location, outcomes and complications were analysed. Results: There were sixteen patients, included 9 males and 7 females. The patients\ufffd?average age was 35.3 years (ranged from 16 to 72 years). Clinical characteristics of mediastinal tumors were chest pain (11 cases), trouble breathing (4 cases), cough (2 cases). CT scanner detected mediastinal tumors in all patients (16 cases). Pathologically, 15 patients had benign tumors and only one had malignant tumor. The average time for postoperative drainage withdrawal was 3.0625 days (ranged from 2 to 5 days). The average time of hospital stay was 5 days (ranged from 3 to 11 days). There was no postoperative complication. Conclusion: VATS for mediastinal tumors obtained good outcomes. This was a selective method with many advantages for mediastinal tumors.
Mediastinal Neoplasms/surgery ; Thoracic Surgery ; Video-Assisted ;

Humans ; Mediastinal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/surgery*

Neurogenic tumors located in the posterior mediastinum, generally require surgery which be confronted with greater risk,therefore, to design the best surgical approach and surgical methods is essential. A 67-year-old female patient had pharyngeal foreign body sensation and dysphagia. Thyroid ultrasound showed the right thyroid had a little nodule, and the left thyroid had a hypoechoic lumps. Neck enhanced CT showd mediastinal mass, esophageal tumor origin or stromal tumor? We used the jugular approach to resect the tumor which eventually diagnosed as schwannoma. The meditational benign tumor with an envelope easy to peel can employ the jugular approach to resect it completely.
Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Jugular Veins ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Mediastinum ; pathology ; Neck ; surgery ; Neurilemmoma ; surgery

Thoracic duct cysts in the upper portion of the diaphragm are mostly found in the neck and are rarely found in the mediastinum. Thoracic duct cysts should be differentiated from other mediastinal tumors or cysts, and surgical treatment is required to avoid the development of chylothorax if the cyst ruptures. Herein, we report the case of a patient with a thoracic cyst located just above the diaphragm that was treated with surgical resection.
Chylothorax ; Diaphragm ; Humans ; Mediastinal Cyst ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Mediastinum* ; Neck ; Rupture ; Thoracic Duct* ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; Thoracoscopy

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery has gained a broad acceptance for various thoracic lesions because it is the minimally invasive surgery with little tissue trauma, less pain, improved cosmetic results and short recovery time. However, there are some limitations for this method, such as restricted visual sensory information to a two-dimensional image and limited maneuverability of the tips of the instruments. To overcome these limitations, advanced technology has been introduced and the da Vinci(TM) Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical Inc, Mountain View, CA, USA) became available in 2001. In Korea, the da Vinci(TM) Surgical System was introduced in Severance hospital (Yonsei University College of Medicine) in May 2005, and approved by KFDA in July 2005. Herein, we report the first experience of robot-assisted thoracic surgery with the da Vinci(TM) Surgical System in extirpation of a large teratoma in anterior mediastinum.
Korea* ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Mediastinum ; Robotics ; Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive ; Teratoma ; Thoracic Surgery* ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted

Angiomyolipoma is a common tumor of the kidney but has rarely been found in the mediastinum. We report a case of angiomyolipoma of the posterior mediastinum in a 62-year-old woman. She experienced exertional dyspnea and intermittent cough at admission. Computed tomography indicated a tumor located at the left paravertebral and upper posterior mediastinum and MRI imaging demonstrated a mass with low signal intensity in T1-weighted image at T4-5 level. Thoracotomy was done for surgical removal of the tumor and histologic examination revealed a mesenchymal tumor composed of mature fat, capillaries and smooth muscle fibers. The tumor was immunohistochemically positive for CD34 and factor-VIII (for vascular component) smooth muscle actin (for smooth muscle component) and S-100 protein (for fat component). There have been four case reports about mediastinal angiomyolipoma, namely three Japanese cases and one French case. It is suggested that angiomyolipoma could be considered for the differential diagnosis of mediastinal tumors.
Angiomyolipoma/*pathology/surgery ; Case Report ; Female ; Human ; Mediastinal Neoplasms/*pathology/surgery ; Middle Age

Adult ; Diaphragm ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; methods ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Neurilemmoma ; surgery

Aged ; Calcinosis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; surgery ; Mediastinum ; pathology ; surgery ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted

Mediastinal paragangliomas are very rare neuroendocrine tumors. Complete resection is the standard treatment of a paraganglioma because of the tumor's potential malignancy and poor response to chemo- or radiotherapy. However, the highly vascular nature of the tumor and its characteristic anatomic location make complete resection difficult. We report a case of an anterior mediastinal paraganglioma, which was incidentally found on a chest computed tomography scan for chronic cough work-up of a 55-year-old woman. Complete resection was accomplished using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and the patient recovered without any complications.
Cough ; Female ; Humans ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; Paraganglioma* ; Radiotherapy ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted* ; Thorax

Myelolipoma in the mediastinum is an extremely rare entity. In this report, we present the case of a 79-year-old asymptomatic man who had three bilateral paravertebral mediastinal tumors. The three tumors were resected simultaneously using bilateral three-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). There has been no evidence of recurrence within four years after the operation. Multiple bilateral mediastinal myelolipomas are extremely rare. There are no reports in the English literature of multiple bilateral thoracic myelolipomas that were resected simultaneously using bilateral VATS. We also present characteristic features of myelolipomas, which are helpful for diagnosis.
Aged ; Diagnosis ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Mediastinum ; Myelolipoma* ; Recurrence ; Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted* ; Thoracoscopy