We reviewed 40 cases of primary mediastinal tumors which were operated on at Seoul Paik Hospital from September, 1987 to December, 1995. Of these, 18 were male and 22 were female. The patient ranged in age from 4 years to 68 years with a mean age
of
34.1 years. The most common symptoms included chest pain(12.5%), cough(12.5%), dyspnea(7.5%), and palpable neck mass(7.5%), and symptoms were absent at the time of diagnosis in 37.5% of cases. Chest roentgenography and computed tomography(CT)
were
performed in all patients, and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) in 5 patients, and transthoracic needle aspiration (TTNA) performed in 22 patients. The sensitivity of TTNA was 72.7%(16 of 22 patients).
The lesion was located 60% in the anterosuperior mediastinum, 35% in the posterior mediastinum, and 5% in the middle mediastinum. The primary tumors included thymic neoplasms(11 cases), germ cell tumors(7 cases), neurogenic tumors(10 cases) and a
miscellaneous group. The malignant tumors(12.5%) were invasive thymoma(3 cases), spindle cell sarcoma(1 cases), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(1 cases).
A complete excision was done in all 35 benign tumors and 3 malignant tumors. There was no operative mortality, and postoperative complications occurred in 3 cases.
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