RT Book, Section
A1 Chesnutt, Asha N.
A1 Chesnutt, Mark S.
A1 Prendergast, Niall T.
A1 Prendergast, Thomas J.
A2 Papadakis, Maxine A.
A2 McPhee, Stephen J.
A2 Rabow, Michael W.
SR Print(0)
ID 1166164911
T1 Mediastinal Masses
T2 Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2020
YR 2020
FD 2020
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781260455281
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1166164911
RD 2022/05/20
AB Various  developmental,  neoplastic,  infectious,  traumatic,  and  cardiovascular  disorders  may  cause  masses  that  appear  in  the  mediastinum  on  chest  radiograph.  A  useful  convention  arbitrarily  divides  the  mediastinum  into  three  compartments—anterior,  middle,  and  posterior—in  order  to  classify  mediastinal  masses  and  assist  in  differential  diagnosis.  Specific  mediastinal  masses  have  a  predilection  for  one  or  more  of  these  compartments;  most  are  located  in  the  anterior  or  middle  compartment.  The  differential  diagnosis  of  an  anterior  mediastinal  mass  includes  thymoma,  teratoma,  thyroid  lesions,  lymphoma,  and  mesenchymal  tumors  (lipoma,  fibroma).  The  differential  diagnosis  of  a  middle  mediastinal  mass  includes  lymphadenopathy,  pulmonary  artery  enlargement,  aneurysm  of  the  aorta  or  innominate  artery,  developmental  cyst  (bronchogenic,  enteric,  pleuropericardial),  dilated  azygous  or  hemiazygous  vein,  and  foramen  of  Morgagni  hernia.  The  differential  diagnosis  of  a  posterior  mediastinal  mass  includes  hiatal  hernia,  neurogenic  tumor,  meningocele,  esophageal  tumor,  foramen  of  Bochdalek  hernia,  thoracic  spine  disease,  and  extramedullary  hematopoiesis.  The  neurogenic  tumor  group  includes  neurilemmoma,  neurofibroma,  neurosarcoma,  ganglioneuroma,  and  pheochromocytoma.