[Mediastinal Lymphangioma:Report of a Case].

Abstract

A 76-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with an abnormal shadow on a chest computed tomography (CT) scan. A chest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an anterior mediastinal cyst of 7 cm in diameter with an internal septal-like structure, leading to the differential diagnosis of mediastinal lymphangioma. After administering milk, we performed video-assisted thoracoscopic excision of the lesion. After excision of the cyst, no cloudy fluid leakage was observed from the excised margin. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the cells lining the cyst walls were stained positive for D2-40, therefore the lesion was diagnosed as a mediastinal lymphangioma. Mediastinal lymphangioma is rare, and postoperative lymphatic leakage is common in surgical cases. In this case, mediastinal lymphangioma was selected as the differential diagnosis based on the preoperative MRI findings, and complete resection was achieved without complications by administering milk before surgery.