MEDIASTINAL TUMOURS

The mediastinum represents the space located between the two lungs as well as between the spinal column posteriorly and the sternum anteriorly. It is separated into the anterior, middle and posterior compartments. All these compartments are potential sites, where tumours may develop and there is a large variety of tumours that may be benign or malignant. Some of these tumours need surgical treatment, others need chemo-radiotherapy while others may need a multimodality treatment. The most frequent tumour in the mediastinum is that originating from the thymus gland at the anterior mediastinum, while the neurogenic tumours represent the most frequent histologic type located at the posterior mediastinum. The most frequent tumours of the middle compartment are cystic ones, such as the pericardial cysts. Cystic tumours such as the bronchogenic or enterogenic are located at the posterior mediastinum. Mediastinal tumours may be resected through a median sternotomy, lateral thoracotomy or thoracoscopically.