• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.689-694
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• 1994

A retrospective analysis was performed on 36 patients with primary cysts and tumors of the mediastinum seen at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Maryknoll Hospital from January 1983 to December 1993. There were 21 female and 15 male patients in the study. Ages ranges from 2 years to 72 years, with a mean of 34.7. There were 9 malignant tumors and 27 benign tumors.Thymic neoplasms were the most common. For the whole series, 29 of the patients had tumors in the anterior mediastinum. There appears to be an in6rease in tumors in the anterior compartment. There were 30 symptomatic patients in our series. Of the patients with malignant disease, 89 % were symptomatic. All of benign tumors were completely removed and malignant tumors were treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy after operation. There were 9[27.3 %] postoperative complications. There was no postoperative mortality. Follow-up was available on 27 patients. There was no recurrence, malignant degeneration, or growth of any tumor. It is hoped that careful evaluation and aggressive treatment of mediastinal tumors will continue to provide improvement in the prognosis for these patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.781-784
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• 2009

Pericardial cyst is an uncommon congenital mediastinal tumor. The majority of pericardial cysts are located in the right cardiophrenic angle, but rarely they can be located intrapericardially. We now present a case of a huge intra-pericardial pericardial cyst excised with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.210-214
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• 1981

The bronchogenic cysts result from an abnormal budding or branching of the tracheo-bronchial tree from the primitive foregut. Bronchogenic cysts may be pulmonary or mediastinal. The most common location for a mediastinal bronchogenic cyst is in relation to the carina. They are usually solitary. They usually are thin walled and contain fluid that is most often clear. The cyst is lined by ciliated columnar epithelium. The bronchogenic cyst i~ usually asymptomatic. They can cause pressure symptoms. When they become infected, symptoms do occur. We report 3 cases of bronchogenic cysts experienced at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Kyungpook National University Hospital. Case I, a man of 20 year-old, had a cyst at the site between aortic arch and left pulmonary artery. He complained cough and dyspnea. The cyst wasn`t communicated with tracheobronchial tree. Case II was 55-year-old male who had had hemoptysis. A huge cyst was located within the lower lobe of left lung and removed by pulmonary lobectomy. There were not any symptoms in Case III that was 6-year old girl. That cyst was located just next to the right main bronchus.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.671-682
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• 2019

Objective: To investigate whether computed tomography (CT) and fluorine-18-labeled fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) may be applied to distinguish thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) from benign cysts in the anterior mediastinum. Materials and Methods: We included 262 consecutive patients with pathologically proven TETs and benign cysts 5 cm or smaller who underwent preoperative CT scans. In addition to conventional morphological and ancillary CT findings, the relationship between the lesion and the adjacent mediastinal pleura was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. Mean lesion attenuation was measured on CT images. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was obtained with FDG-PET scans in 40 patients. CT predictors for TETs were identified with multivariate logistic regression analysis. For validation, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy and inter-observer agreement between four radiologists in a size-matched set of 24 cysts and 24 TETs using a receiver operating characteristic curve before and after being informed of the study findings. Results: The multivariate analysis showed that post-contrast attenuation of 60 Hounsfield unit or higher (odds ratio [OR], 12.734; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.506-64.705; p = 0.002) and the presence of protrusion from the mediastinal pleura (OR, 9.855; 95% CI, 1.749-55.535; p = 0.009) were the strongest CT predictors for TETs. SUVmax was significantly higher in TETs than in cysts (5.3 ± 2.4 vs. 1.1 ± 0.3; p < 0.001). After being informed of the study findings, the readers' area under the curve improved from 0.872-0.955 to 0.949-0.999 (p = 0.066-0.149). Inter-observer kappa values for protrusion were 0.630-0.941. Conclusion: Post-contrast CT attenuation, protrusion from the mediastinal pleura, and SUVmax were useful imaging features for distinguishing TETs from cysts in the anterior mediastinum.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.763-768
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• 1996

This report is an analysis of 43 cases of primary mediastinal tumors and cysts which were treated in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Tae Jeon Eul li General Hospital from January, 1986 to April, 1995. There were 19 males and 24 females, and their ages ranged from 4 years to 68 years, with mean age of 31.3 years. The most common symptoms were dyspnea 48.8%, chest disconyort 39.5%, cough )4.9%, and chest pain 23.3%, and the most frequently encountered location of tumor was anterior mediastinum followed by posterior, and middle mediastinum. From the pathologic viewpoint, teratoma was the most frequent type followed by neurogenic tumors, cysts, thymoma, and Iymphoma. The most useful diagnostic method was plain X-ray examination of the chest, and final diagnosis could usually be made only after an operation. All of benign tumors were completely removed and malignant tumors were treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy after operation There were 7 (16.3 %) cases of postoperative complications, and there was no postoperative mortality.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.594-601
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• 1983

Mediastinal tumors have long fascinated the thoracic surgeon because of their variety and unpredictability of diagnosis prior to exploration. We report the analysis of the 110 cases of mediastinal tumors, experienced in the dept. of the thoracic and cardiovascular surgery of the National Medical Center from December 1959 to August 1983. The age distribution was relatively even and the mean age was 37 years old. The germ cell tumors were 29 cases [31%], the neurogenic tumors were 19 cases [20%], the thymomas were 16 cases [17%], the lymphomas were 8 cases [8.5%], the primary or secondary carcinomas were 11 cases [12%], the bronchogenic and the P.W cysts were 4 cases, the mesenchymal tumors were 3 cases, the TB gangliomas were 3 cases among the 94 cases, histologically analysed. The malignant tumors were 39 cases [41%]. In classified by histological types, the tumor size, location and the clinical manifestations are presented. The successful removal was done in 53 cases [96%] among 55 cases of benign mediastinal tumors. In 39 malignant cases, the surgical intervention had been done in 21 cases [54%], and inoperable cases were 16 [41%], and the operative deaths were 2 cases [5%].

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.95-97
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• 1981

Cystic intrathoracic lesions of foregut origin are now well recognized and account for approximately 10% of lesions presenting as mediastinal tumors. The terminology used to describe mediastinal endodermal cysts has been confused and sometimes ambiguous. The embryological derivation of these lesions has been the cause of much speculation. It Is suggested that these lesions should be classified Into three main categories based on embryology bronchogenic cyst[resulting from a defect of lung budding], Intramural esophageal cyst[true duplication], and enteric cyst[resulting from the split notochord syndrome]. This communication describes a 26 year old man with intramural esophageal cyst who was diagnosed as posterior medlastlnai tumor preoperatively and cured with extirpation of the cyst.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.62-78
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• 2023

As the majority of incidentally detected lesions in the anterior mediastinum is small nodules with soft tissue appearance, the differential diagnosis has typically included thymic neoplasm and prevascular lymph node, with benign cyst. Overestimation or misinterpretation of these lesions can lead to unnecessary surgery for ultimately benign conditions. Diagnosing mediastinal cysts using MRI serves as a problem-solving modality in distinguishing between surgical and nonsurgical anterior mediastinal lesions. The pitfalls of MRI evaluation for anterior mediastinal cystic lesions are as follows: first, we acknowledge the limitation of T2-weighted images for evaluating benign cystic lesions. Due to variable contents within benign cystic lesions, such as hemorrhage, T2 signal intensity may be variable. Second, owing to extensive necrosis and cystic changes, the T2 shine-through effect may be seen on diffusion-weighted images (DWI), and small solid portions might be missed on enhanced images. Therefore, both enhancement and DWI with apparent diffusion coefficient values should be considered. An algorithm will be suggested for the diagnostic evaluation of anterior mediastinal cystic lesions, and finally, a management strategy based on MRI features will be suggested.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.807-811
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• 2002

Due to its less invasive nature and superior visual field, video-assisted thoracescopic excision of mediastinal mass is thought to be comparable to open thoracotomy. Material and Method : From January 1995 to August 2001, the medical records of 38 patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic excision of mediastinal mass was retrospectively analyzed. The outcome of these patients were compared with 5 patients who converted to thoracotomy Result: Male to female ratio was 13(34.2%) : 25(65.8%), and mean age was 39.2$\pm$35.4 years. Regarding the pathology, there were 8 neurilemmomas(21.1%), 6 thymic cysts (15.8%), 5 teratomas(13.2%), 5 ganglioneuromas(13.2%), 4 bronchogenic cysts(10.5%), 3 pericardial cysts(7.9%), 3 thymomas(7.9%), and 2 lymphangiomas(5.3%). The mean operation time was 110.6$\pm$7.0 minutes, mean postoperative tube stay was 4.2$\pm$0.4 days, mean postoperative hospital stay was 5.2$\pm$0.4 days, and mean number of injection of analgesics was 1.9$\pm$0.4 times. Although the mean values for the above indices were less than those of the thoracotomy conversion cases, they were statistically insignificant. Postoperative complications of videoassisted thoracoscopic excision included chylothorax, prolonged air leakage, and unilateral phrenic nerve palsy, all of which recovered before patient discharge. There was, however, permanent unilateral ptosis in one patient. Conclusion : As video-assisted thoracoscopic excision of mediastinal mass is safe, less painful, conducive to earlier recovery and cosmetically more appealing, a more active application of this technique is recommeded.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.575-583
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• 1993

Background: Mediastinal masses are not uncommon, and an overall incidence of one case per 100,000 population per year in individuals of all ages and with no difference in sex incidence may be a reasonable estimation. At least half of all mediastinal masses are asymptomatic and this proportion has increased in recent decades with wider use of screening chest roentgenography. Symptoms in patients with mediastinal mass lesions are usually due to compression or invasion of nearby intrathoracic structures. Most mediastinal mass lesions have characteristic predilectional locations. The basic focus of diagnostic evaluation is an orderly preparation for obtaining a tissue diagnosis but even lesions discovered to be benign must generally be removed. Seldom is this status known for certain preoperatively. In additaion, benign tumors may continue to enlarge, thus compromising vital organs; they may rupture, hemorrhage, become infected or have the possibility of various malignant degeneration. Therefore, all mediastinal masses must be surgically removed whether they are malignant or benign. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 344 cases previously confirmed as mediastinal tumors or cysts from January, 1960 to August, 1992 and investigated the clinical findings. Results: Neurogenic tumors were the most common(24.7%) and thymomas were distinctively increased recently. Overall ratio between males and females was 1.1:1 and age distribution was relatively even among all age groups. Predilectional sites were posterior for neurogenic tumors, and anterior for teratodermoid tumors, thymomas and lymphomas. Dyspnea was the most common symptom in the patients of the mediastinal tumors and asymptomatic patients were 19.5%, Benign mediastinal mass lesions were 66.0% and malignant, 34.0%, Complete or partial resection was done in 42.4%. Conclusion: We could find the increasing incidence and the tendency of aggressive resection as possible in the mediastinal tumors. We expect the discovery of more mediastinal tumors with wider use of regular check-up and development of diagnostic methods.