title: A case of primary mediastinal ependymoma.
abstract: A 50-year-old female complained of back pain. Computed tomography showed a well-defined spindle-shaped mass 3.4 x 1.0 cm in size in the left paravertebral posterior mediastinum at the Th 3-4 level. The tumor was completely resected via thoracoscopic surgery, which showed no invasion into the surrounding tissue. It consisted of a cyst with a tiny mural solid element. By means of histological and immunohistochemical examinations, we diagnosed the tumor as ependymoma, and the patient remains alive 59 months after resection. As far as we know, 8 reported cases with primary mediastinal ependymoma have been reported. They had the following specific characteristics: (1) All patients were adult females; (2) The tumors were usually located at the paravertebral upper mediastinum; (3) Most of the tumors consisted of cystic and solid elements; (4) The tumors usually made no invasion into the surrounding tissues, though 2 cases had lymph-node metastases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Department of Surgical Pathology, Kumamoto University Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nomori
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: Koei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Hidekatsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Yasuomi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohba
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshimoto
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iyama
mesh_terms: D001416:Back Pain / Q000209:etiology; D001706:Biopsy; D004806:Ependymoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome