Mediastinal carcinoid tumour: pre-operative arterial embolisation.
Carcinoid tumours of the mediastinum are very rare. They are frequently malignant and run a quite different course from that of the more benign thymomas. We report a 70 year old man with an anterior mediastinal tumour which was initially diagnosed as a thymoma but which was subsequently shown to be a carcinoid tumour. Surgical extirpation was greatly enhanced by pre-operative angiography and arterial embolisation of the tumour. Early and aggressive diagnostic attempts, pre-operative angiography, with or without arterial embolisation, and complete surgical excision offer the best hope of a cure for these malignant tumours.
Hughes
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D000368:Aged; D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005781:Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011859:Radiography