title: Two patients with TAFRO syndrome exhibiting strikingly similar anterior mediastinal lesions with predominantly fat attenuation on chest computed tomography.
abstract: We herein report on two middle-aged men with TAFRO (thrombocytopenia, anasarca, fever, reticulin fibrosis or renal failure, and organomegaly) syndrome, a unique clinicopathological variant of multicentric Castleman׳s disease recently proposed in Japan. Strikingly similar anterior mediastinal fat swellings with soft tissue density were observed in the patients on chest computed tomography. In TAFRO syndrome, bilateral pleural effusion and slight lymph node swelling are common in the thoracic region; however, anterior mediastinal lesions have not been previously observed. Although the mechanisms of anterior mediastinal lesions have not been defined, these lesions seem to have a close relationship with TAFRO syndrome.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: 13mh008h@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: yama5252@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: yasumasa@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasuo
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: hitakahasi@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: tateishi@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tateishi
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: atsuhito@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Atsuhito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ushiki
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: kawasato@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: fujinaga@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yasunari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujinaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: sasaka@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shiho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: kenjisa@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: takayama@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: imamura@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. Electronic address: masayuki@shinshu-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanaoka
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D004487:Edema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005334:Fever / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016878:POEMS Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D012155:Reticulin; D013577:Syndrome; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D012155:Reticulin
keywords: Anterior mediastinal lesion; Multicentric Castleman׳s disease; Plasma exchange; TAFRO syndrome