Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Pathology, Neoplasia, Acute, Structured reporting, Diagnostic procedure, MR, CT, Conventional radiography, Mediastinum
Authors:
D. D. Muntean1, M. Kamoun1, M. M. Coman2, D. Precup1; 1Cluj-Napoca/RO, 2Campia Turzii/RO
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-3694
Background
Although the posterior mediastinum (PM) is a relatively small anatomic region,
it is home to a wide-ranging pathology,
posing an interesting diagnostic challenge.
According to a widely used classification,
PM is located anterior to the dorsal vertebral bodies T5-T12,
posterior to pericardium and diaphragm,
and between the parietal pleura of the two lungs.
Generally,
the affected structures are neural components,
the thoracic aorta,
esophagus,
lymph nodes and the paravertebral space [1].
The lesion’s location and relation to the surrounding structures,
alongside imaging features are key to the differential diagnosis of PM pathology (Fig. 1).
The International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group (ITMIG) proposed recently a new classification of the mediastinum based on transverse CT imaging,
dividing the mediastinum into three compartments: prevascular,
visceral and paravertebral [2].
The boundaries and the main anatomical features of each compartment are summarized in Fig. 2.