A Case of Mediastinal Hemangioma Diagnosed by Preoperative Imaging Studies

Abstract

A 73-year-old woman presented to our hospital with an abnormal shadow on her chest computed tomography (CT). It showed a 2.5 cm nodule in the anterior mediastinum. On dynamic contrast-enhanced CT (dynamic CT), peripheral puddles were found in the nodule. Enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also showed peripheral enhancement ; low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. There were no findings invading the surroundings directly. Surgery was performed under the suspected diagnosis of mediastinal hemangioma. The histopathological diagnosis was cavernous hemangioma. Mediastinal hemangioma is a rare entity, and it is difficult to make the diagnosis preoperatively with imaging studies. In this case, the combined use of dynamic CT and MRI was useful to make the preoperative diagnosis of mediastinal hemangioma and to remove it safely by thoracoscopic surgery.