title: Mediastinal rhabdomyoma: a case report and review of the literature.
abstract: An incidental anterior-superior mediastinal rhabdomyoma is reported in a 68-year-old man who died of hypovolemic shock as a result of massive blood loss due to transection of aorta after being hit by a moving motor vehicle. This is the third reported case of mediastinal rhabdomyoma in the literature. The immunohistochemical evidence of expression of muscle-specific markers supports the rhabdomyomatous nature of this neoplasm, and electron microscopic demonstration of haphazardly arranged myofilaments with prominent Z bands, "jack-straws" in the mitochondria, and the absence of desmosomes is supportive of extracardiac origin of this rhabdomyoma. The possible histogenesis of extracardiac adult rhabdomyoma (EAR) in the anterior-superior mediastinum from the thymic myoid cells is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, United Health Services Hospitals, Johnson City, NY 13790, USA.
authors.forename: Jagmohan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Sidhu
authors.forename: Marlo M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Nicolas
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000199:Actins / Q000032:analysis; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D003893:Desmin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D012207:Rhabdomyoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003893:Desmin; D009211:Myoglobin; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins