title: Factors affecting the preoperative diagnosis of anterior mediastinal cysts.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although anterior mediastinal cysts are generally benign diseases, the preoperative diagnosis of these lesions is not necessarily accurate. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the preoperative diagnosis of anterior mediastinal cysts.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a retrospective analysis of 35 patients with pathologically diagnosed anterior mediastinal cysts (20 thymic cysts, 7 bronchogenic cysts, 5 pericardial cysts, and 3 others) that were resected at our hospital and evaluated their preoperative diagnosis, cyst size, and fluid content.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighteen, 15, 1, and 1 patient(s) were preoperatively diagnosed with cystic disease, thymoma, thymic cancer, and teratoma, respectively. Cysts were significantly larger in the correct diagnosis group (40.2 ± 18.8 mm) than in the incorrect diagnosis group (21.1 ± 10.4 mm) (p = 0.0011). The cut-off value of the cyst size which separates these groups, as indicated by the receiver operating characteristic curve, was 28 mm, with a sensitivity and specificity of 0.722 and 0.823, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy for mucinous cysts was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than that for serous cysts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of cysts smaller than 28 mm and mucinous fluid content was possible factors resulting in inaccurate preoperative diagnosis.
authors: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoin-kawara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
authors: Fumiaki
authors: F
authors: Gochi
authors: Mitsugu
authors: M
authors: Omasa
authors: Tetsu
authors: T
authors: Yamada
authors: Masaaki
authors: M
authors: Sato
authors: Toshi
authors: T
authors: Menju
authors: Akihiro
authors: A
authors: Aoyama
authors: Toshihiko
authors: T
authors: Sato
authors: Fengshi
authors: F
authors: Chen
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Sonobe
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Date
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001994:Bronchogenic Cyst / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008476:Mediastinal Cyst / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013724:Teratoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult