Abstract
A 66-year-old female was referred to our hospital with a tumor in the right posterior mediastinum, which was detected by chest CT. CT showed a tumor, located on the right side of the third and fourth thoracic vertebrae, measuring 30×20 mm in diameter. The tumor also revealed peripheral punctate enhancements in the early phase, but no enhancement was observed in the delayed phase. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed iso-intensity on T1-weighted images (T1WI) and heterogeneous intensity on T2WI. Until surgery, a neurogenic tumor was considered. Because it showed signs of rapid growth, we performed surgery. Intraoperatively, the lesion bled easily, and the final volume of bleeding was 500 g. Pathological diagnosis confirmed the diagnosis of hemangioma. Few case studies reporting the preoperative diagnosis of mediastinal hemangioma have been published, because the lesion presents various patterns on CT and MRI. Thus, this study suggests that a differential diagnosis of hemangioma should be considered, even in the case of mediastinal tumors with minimal enhancement on CT and MRI.
