PATTERNS OF MEDIASTINAL TUMORS

A TWO AND HALF YEAR EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Objective: To review all the mediastinal tumors and cysts operated upon
at Department of Thoracic Surgery, OICD, DUHS over a 2.5 year period. Study design:
Retrospective descriptive study. Place and duration of study: Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases,
Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan from November 2012- April 2015. Material
and methods: 50 patients with mediastinal masses of either sex were included in the study.
Tumors were categorized as arising from the anterior, middle and posterior mediastinum on
the basis of CT scan chest. Tumors were classified into various type based on the results of
histopathology. Data was obtained from hospital medical records and proformas were filled
for each patient. Results: A total of 50 patients with mediastinal masses were seen at the
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases between Nov 2012- April
2015. There were 30 males and 20 females (ratio 1.5:1). Most of the patients were between 11-
70 years of age, with mean age of 32 years. The most common location for mediastinal tumors
was found to be the anterior mediastinum which comprised of 40% of all tumors, followed by
posterior (32%) and middle mediastinum respectively (28.0%). Shwanomma (18%) was the
most common type of tumor observed, followed by lymphoma (12%) and germ cell tumors
(10%). Conclusion: Mediastinal tumors are relatively uncommon in clinical setting. These
tumors represent a group of heterogeneous masses present between two pleural cavities. A
definitive early diagnosis is the key in management and prognosis of the patient.We present our
5 year experience of patterns of mediastinal tumors.