Aims and objectives
1.
Describe common primary chest wall tumors in terms of location,
origin,
tissue components,
and clinical features.
2.
Identify chest wall tumors on the basis of their chest X-ray (CXR) appearances and CT imaging.
3.
Discuss imaging findings facilitating the differential diagnoses of bone and soft-tissue tumors.
Methods and materials
Tumors of the chest wall can be benign or malignant and can take origin from any of its components.
The majority of malignant chest wall tumors are metastatic lesions from other organs or they are the result of direct invasion of a tumor from the lung parenchyma.
Radiographic tools for imaging these lesions consist mainly of plain radiographs,
CT,
and MRI.
Radiologic evaluation of these tumors is essential in determining resectability and planning reconstruction.
Results
Primary chest wall tumor is rare and represents about 5% of all thoracic neoplasms [1,
2].
It encompasses tumors of various origins,
including bone and cartilage,
soft tissue such as muscle,
vessel,
nerve,
and even some hematologic diseases [1,
3,
4].
Only 8% of primary bone tumors occur in the chest wall.
The clinical presentation of primary chest wall tumor is nonspecific.
The most frequent symptoms in patients with primary chest wall
tumors were palpable mass and pain.
Neurologic symptoms such as muscle weakness and...
Conclusion
Chest Wall Tumors is a difficult disease to characterize radiographically because of its diffuse nature and propensity to infiltrate between tissue planes.
Surgical biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis.
References
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Graeber GM,
Snyder RJ,
Fleming AW,
Head HD,
Lough FC,
Parker JS,
Zajtchuk R,
et al.
Initial and long-term results in the management of primary chest wall neoplasms.
Ann Thorac Surg 1982;34:664-73.
2.
Incarbone M,
Pastorino U.
Surgical treatment of chest wall tumors.
World J Surg 2001;25:218-30.
3.
Anderson BO,
Burt ME.
Chest wall neoplasms and their management.
Ann Thorac Surg 1994;58:1774-81.
4.
Pairolero PC,
Arnold PG.
Chest wall tumors experience with 100 consecutive patients.
J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1985;90: 367-72.
5.
Sabanathan S,...