-Case Reports-

A Surgical Case of Giant Malignant Mesenchymoma in the Posterior Mediastinum That Recurred in the Bilateral Mediastinum

Shigeo Tanimura^1,2, Yuji Saito^1,2, Kazuo Honma³ and Kiyoshi Koizumi¹

¹Department of Biological Regulation and Regenerative Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School
²Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nippon Medical School Tama Nagayama Hospital
³Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Sagamihara Kyodo Hospital, Kanagawa

Malignant mesenchymoma is a soft-tissue tumor arising preferentially in the extremities and the retroperitoneum. We report a case of primary malignant mesenchymoma of the left side of the posterior mediastinum with local recurrence on both sides of the mediastinum. A 24-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of cough. Chest X-ray showed a giant mass in two-thirds of the left lung field, and computed tomography of the chest revealed a lobulated large mass with a fat-density area and a calcified spot in the mediastinum and left pleural space. Magnetic resonance of the chest demonstrated a large, solid mass consisting mainly of areas with the same intensity as fatty tissue and partly of areas of heterogeneous moderate intensity. The tumor was resected completely through a left posterolateral thoracotomy. The pathologic diagnosis was malignant mesenchymoma: well-differentiated liposarcoma with osteocartilagenous differentiation. The patient had local recurrence in both sides of the mediastinum 3 years and 6 months after surgery, and the recurrent tumors were completely resected again.

J Nippon Med Sch 2008; 75: 212-215

Keywords
malignant mesenchymoma, mediastinal tumor, local recurrence

Correspondence to
Shigeo Tanimura, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nippon Medical School Tama Nagayama Hospital, 1-1-7 nagayama, tama-shi, Tokyo 206-8512, Japan
kogeka-tanimura@nms.ac.jp

Received, December 21, 2007
Accepted, March 31, 2008