A 68-year-old woman presented with weight loss of 7 kg over two years. Clinical examination revealed no specific abnormality and the patient was otherwise asymptomatic. Chest radiography performed to screen for malignancy revealed a soft tissue opacity projected over the mediastinum. Computed tomography of the thorax showed an enhancing anterior mediastinal mass with heterogeneous enhancement and contrast pooling in the arterial phase, followed by homogeneous enhancement in the venous phase, consistent with an aneurysm arising from the superior vena cava. This case highlights superior vena cava aneurysms as extremely rare causes of anterior mediastinal masses. Other causes of anterior mediastinal masses were also discussed.
Aged ; Aneurysm ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Mediastinum ; diagnostic imaging ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Vena Cava, Superior ; diagnostic imaging

Castleman disease is a relatively rare disease, characterized by well-circumscribed benign lymph-node hyperplasia. The disease may develop anywhere in the lymphatic system, but is most commonly reported as unicentric Castleman disease in the mediastinum along the tracheobronchial tree. It is usually asymptomatic and detected on plain chest radiography as an incidental finding. We report an incidentally detected case of Castleman disease in the paravertebral space that was preoperatively diagnosed as a neurogenic tumor and treated by complete surgical resection.
Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia ; Hyperplasia ; Incidental Findings ; Lymphatic System ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Mediastinum ; Radiography ; Rare Diseases ; Thorax ; Trees

Plasmacytomas are extramedullary accumulations of plasma cells originating from soft tissue. Mediastinal plasmacytoma is a rare presentation. A 67-year-old man recovered after antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia. However, on convalescent chest radiography after 3 months, mass like lesion at the right lower lung field was newly detected. Follow-up chest computed tomography (CT) revealed an increase in the extent of the right posterior mediastinal mass that we had considered to be pneumonic consolidations on previous CT scans. Through percutaneous needle biopsy, we diagnosed IgG kappa type extramedullary plasmacytoma of the posterior mediastinum.
Aged ; Biopsy, Needle ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematopoiesis, Extramedullary ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Lung ; Mediastinum ; Plasma Cells ; Plasmacytoma* ; Pneumonia* ; Radiography ; Thorax ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC) in fluorine-18fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) was evaluated as a preoperative predictor of pathologic grade and survival rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients who underwent preoperative PET/CT and complete resection for PMEC were enrolled. The optimal cut-off SUVmax for tumor grade was calculated as 6.5 by receiver operating characteristic curve. The patients were divided into a high SUV group (n = 7) and a low SUV group (n = 16). Clinicopathologic features were compared between the groups by chi2 test and overall survival was determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: The mean SUVmax was 15.4 +/- 11.5 in the high SUV group and 3.9 +/- 1.3 in the low SUV group. All patients except one from the low SUV group had low grade tumors and all had no nodal metastasis. The sensitivity and specificity of SUVmax from PET/CT for predicting tumor grade was 85.7% and 93.8%, respectively. During the follow-up period (mean, 48.6 +/- 38.7 months), four patients from the high SUV group experienced cancer recurrence, and one died of cancer. In contrast, none of the low SUV group had recurrence or mortality. Five-year overall survival rate was significantly higher in the low SUV group (100% vs. 71.4%, p = 0.031). CONCLUSION: Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma patients with high SUVmax in PET/CT had higher tumor grade, more frequent lymph node metastasis and worse long-term outcome. Therefore, PMEC patients with high uptake on PET/CT imaging might require aggressive mediastinal lymph node dissection and adjuvant therapies.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid/*pathology/radiography ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/metabolism ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Lung Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography ; Lymph Nodes/pathology/radiography ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Mediastinum/radiography ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/pathology/radiography ; Positron-Emission Tomography/*methods ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Survival Rate ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods ; Young Adult

Lymphangioma is a congenital abnormality of the lymphatic system detected primarily in early childhood. There are rare reports of mediastinal lymphangioma in older adults. We hereby report on a 66-year-old female patient who underwent kidney transplantation 20 years previously and who developed pathologically confirmed solitary mediastinal lymphangioma 1 year ago. Chest radiography showed a mediastinal nodule, which was not observed 2 year previously, therefore she was referred to the pulmonary division. She had no symptoms, and chest computed tomography demonstrated a 25-mm, well-defined, low-density nodule located at the anterior mediastinum. The size of the nodule had increased from 25 mm to 34 mm 1 year later, and it was completely resected via video-assisted thoracic surgery. The histological diagnosis was cystic lymphangioma. Therefore, we recommend that clinicians consider cystic lymphangioma as a possible diagnosis even in older patients with a mediastinal cystic mass that shows progressive enlargement.
Adult ; Aged* ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Lymphangioma* ; Lymphangioma, Cystic ; Lymphatic System ; Mediastinal Cyst* ; Mediastinum ; Radiography ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; Thorax

A mediastinal mass was incidentally found on chest radiography in a 46-yr-old woman who had had myasthenia gravis (MG) for 2 months. Computed tomography revealed a 4-cm in size, well-defined, and lobulating mass with nodular calcification that was located in the thymus. Microscopically, the mass consisted of diffuse amorphous eosinophilic materials. These deposits exhibited apple-green birefringence under polarized light microscopy after Congo red staining. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that they were positive for both kappa and lambda light chains and negative for amyloid A. A diagnosis of localized primary thymic amyloidosis was finally made. After thymectomy, the symptoms of MG were controlled with reduced corticosteroid requirements. Localized thymic amyloidosis associated with MG has not been reported to date.
Amyloidosis/complications/*radiography/*surgery ; Calcinosis/*radiography/*surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains/immunology ; Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains/immunology ; Mediastinum/radiography/surgery ; Middle Aged ; Myasthenia Gravis/*complications ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Thymectomy ; Thymus Gland/radiography/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of disseminated gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and the role of bone marrow study in the initial staging work-up. METHODS: A total of 194 patients with gastric MALT lymphoma was enrolled. The incidence of disseminated disease was evaluated in the initial staging work-up. The demographic data and tumor characteristics were compared according to Helicobacter pylori infection status. RESULTS: Localized disease of Lugano stage I accounted for 97.4% of the enrolled cases. Abdominal computed tomography revealed abdominal lymph node metastasis in five patients (2.6%). Bone marrow (BM) involvement was found in only one patient without H. pylori infection (0.5%). No patient showed positive findings on chest computed tomography or positron emission tomography. H. pylori-negative cases showed a significantly higher frequency of advanced-stage disease than H. pylori-positive cases (10.0% vs 0.6%). In patients achieving complete remission, no extragastric recurrence occurred during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of disseminated disease, including BM involvement, was very low in Korean gastric MALT lymphoma patients. It might be beneficial to perform BM aspiration and biopsy as a part of staging work-up only in patients with risk factors for advanced disease such as H. pylori negativity.
Abdomen ; Adult ; Aged ; Bone Marrow/*pathology ; Bone Marrow Examination ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Helicobacter Infections/*complications ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes/*radiography ; Lymphoma, B-Cell, Marginal Zone/complications/*pathology ; Male ; Mediastinum/radiography ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Radiography, Abdominal ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms/complications/*pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Mediastinal impalement injuries are uncommon and often fatal. There have been very few reported cases of survival following mediastinal impalement. Patients who present with these injuries always undergo operative intervention regardless of their underlying haemodynamic status or associated injuries. We herein present a case of mediastinal impalement injury, where a sheet of fibreglass had fractured the manubrium and entered the anterior mediastinum with no associated great vessel injury. The fibreglass sheet was removed via a partial sternotomy and the patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery.
Adult ; Foreign Bodies ; surgery ; Glass ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinum ; surgery ; Occupational Injuries ; Radiography, Thoracic ; Sternotomy ; Thoracic Injuries ; surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Wounds, Penetrating ; surgery ; Wounds, Stab ; surgery

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability of virtual non-contrast (VNC) images reconstructed from contrast-enhanced, dual-energy scans compared with true non-contrast (TNC) images in the assessment of high CT attenuation or calcification of mediastinal lymph nodes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 112 mediastinal nodes from 45 patients who underwent non-contrast and dual-energy contrast-enhanced scans were analyzed. Node attenuation in TNC and VNC images was compared both objectively, using computed tomography (CT) attenuation, and subjectively, via visual scoring (0, attenuation < or = the aorta; 1, > the aorta; 2, calcification). The relationship among attenuation difference between TNC and VNC images, CT attenuation in TNC images, and net contrast enhancement (NCE) was analyzed. RESULTS: CT attenuation in TNC and VNC images showed moderate agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.612). The mean absolute difference was 7.8 +/- 7.6 Hounsfield unit (HU) (range, 0-36 HU), and the absolute difference was equal to or less than 10 HU in 65.2% of cases (73/112). Visual scores in TNC and VNC images showed fair agreement (kappa value, 0.335). Five of 16 nodes (31.3%) which showed score 1 (n = 15) or 2 (n = 1) in TNC images demonstrated score 1 in VNC images. The TNC-VNC attenuation difference showed a moderate positive correlation with CT attenuation in TNC images (partial correlation coefficient [PCC] adjusted by NCE: 0.455) and a weak negative correlation with NCE (PCC adjusted by CT attenuation in TNC: -0.245). CONCLUSION: VNC images may be useful in the evaluation of mediastinal lymph nodes by providing additional information of high CT attenuation of nodes, although it is underestimated compared with TNC images.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Calcinosis/*radiography ; Contrast Media/diagnostic use ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Lymph Nodes/*radiography ; Male ; Mediastinum/*radiography ; Middle Aged ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods

OBJECTIVE: To measure the intra-fraction displacements of the mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes by using four-dimensional CT (4D-CT) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four patients with NSCLC, who were to be treated by using three dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), underwent a 4D-CT simulation during free breathing. The mediastinal metastatic lymph nodes were delineated on the CT images of 10 phases of the breath cycle. The lymph nodes were grouped as the upper, middle and lower mediastinal groups depending on the mediastinal regions. The displacements of the center of the lymph node in the left-right (LR), anterior-posterior (AP), and superior-inferior (SI) directions were measured. RESULTS: The mean displacements of the center of the mediastinal lymph node in the LR, AP, and SI directions were 2.24 mm, 1.87 mm, and 3.28 mm, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the displacements in the SI and LR, and the SI and AP directions (p < 0.05). For the middle and lower mediastinal lymph nodes, the displacement difference between the AP and SI was statistically significant (p = 0.005; p = 0.015), while there was no significant difference between the LR and AP directions (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The metastatic mediastinal lymph node movements are different in the LR, AP, and SI directions in patients with NSCLC, particularly for the middle and lower mediastinal lymph nodes. The spatial non-uniform margins should be considered for the metastatic mediastinal lymph nodes in involved-field radiotherapy.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/*radiography/radiotherapy ; Contrast Media/diagnostic use ; Female ; Four-Dimensional Computed Tomography/*methods ; Humans ; Iohexol/analogs & derivatives/diagnostic use ; Lung Neoplasms/*radiography/radiotherapy ; Lymphatic Metastasis/*radiography ; Male ; Mediastinum/radiography ; Middle Aged ; Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; Statistics, Nonparametric