An unusual cause of an anterior mediastinal mass

Abstract

Mesothelioma is a rare tumour and its radiological growth pattern varies. We report the case of a biopsy proven Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) presenting as an anterior mediastinal mass in a platinum miner. The prognosis for this aggressive tumour remains poor, despite combination treatment modalities.

Localized malignant pleural mesothelioma mimicking an anterior mediastinal tumor

“…The differential diagnosis of LMPM includes other pleural tumors such as solitary fibrous tumor, synovial sarcoma, and epithelioid angiosarcoma. If an LMPM invades the anterior mediastinum, it can mimic a mediastinal mass as in our patient's case [13,22]. We suspected that his tumor was an anterior mediastinal tumor and did not originally consider the possibility of a pleural tumor.…”

“…LMPM is locally aggressive, and thus it can invade the chest wall, ribs, mediastinum, pericardium, and diaphragm. A CT scan cannot provide a definitive diagnosis but it is useful for identifying the tumor size, metastasis, and stage, and for guiding biopsy sites [13,14].…”

Mediastinal undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma with pleural effusion cytopathologically misdiagnosed as epithelial malignant pleural mesothelioma: An autopsy case report

“…Therefore, we discussed the histological findings of pleural effusion associated with mediastinal UPS. In this case, although MPM was not generally suspected from the radiological findings, both MTAP and BAP1 on IHC were positive and homozygous deletion of 9p21 on fluorescence in situ hybridization was difficult to determine in the cell block sample; despite being rare, mediastinal MPM was also identified 12–14 . The autopsy revealed few asbestos bodies, and the tumor directly invaded the mesothelium of the pericardium and pleura, producing reactive mesothelial cells (Figure 4a–d).…”

Rare presentation of a localised malignant pleural mesothelioma with cranial metastasis

“…MM is a very aggressive and treatment-resistant tumour making early diagnosis very important 7. MM usually presents with pleural thickening, calcification and effusion and it is usually associated with long-term asbestos exposure.…”