The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2006; 48: 8-12 Original Childhood mediastinal masses in infants and children

We reviewed all cases of primary pediatric mediastinal masses diagnosed and treated over a 24-year period. In this study, out of 187 primary mediastinal mass cases diagnosed between 1980 and 2004 in Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Cardiovascular Surgery Department, 37 pediatric primary mediastinal mass cases were retrospectively evaluated according to age, sex, symptoms, diagnostic procedure, anatomical location, surgical treatment, histopathological evaluation and postoperative adjuvant therapy. The patients ranged in age from 2 months to 15 years at the time of diagnosis, with a mean age of 8 years. There were 24 benign (64.8%) and 13 malignant (35.2%) tumors. The cases were lymphoma (27%), neurogenic tumors (21.6%), cystic lesions (18.9%), germ cell tumors (13.5%), thymic lesions (10.8%) and cardiac tumors (8.1%). Complete and partial resections of the tumor were the surgical procedures performed in 24 patients (64.8%) and 3 patients (8.1%), respectively. The three patients with a malignant tumor