Approaching the patient with an anterior mediastinal mass: a guide for clinicians.
Anterior mediastinal masses are relatively uncommon, include a wide variety of entities, and often pose a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. In this article, available data is assembled in a clinically oriented manner to develop a structured approach to evaluation of these patients. Attention to age and gender, combined with identification of certain radiographic and clinical characteristics, allows a presumptive diagnosis to be established in most patients. This structure efficiently guides what additional workup is needed.
*Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and †Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Brett W
BW
Carter
Edith M
EM
Marom
Frank C
FC
Detterbeck
D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography