Mediastinal tumor resection
When you need surgery for a tumor in the middle of your upper chest, your Aurora doctor or surgeon may call it mediastinal tumor resection.
Mediastinal refers to tissues in the mediastinum – an area in the upper chest that’s between the lungs. The mediastinum includes the heart, blood vessels, nerves and other important tissues.
Resection means the removal of part of something – in this case, a tumor.
Image shows the mediastinum located between the pleural cavities, which enclose the lungs.
About mediastinal tumors
Mediastinal tumors usually occur in people between 30 and 50 years old. These rare tumors can grow from any tissues in the mediastinum, including muscles, nerves, lymph tissues or glands.
Mediastinal tumors in children usually grow in nerves and are benign (noncancerous). In adults, mediastinal tumors are usually malignant (cancerous).
Symptoms of mediastinal tumors
Symptoms of mediastinal tumors are often related to pressure the tumor causes on parts of the body such as the lungs or spine. Children are more likely to have symptoms than adults because tumors take up more room in a child’s smaller mediastinum area.
The most common symptoms are chest pain and weight loss. Other mediastinal tumor symptoms may include:
- Cough
- Fever
- Chills
- Night sweats
- Hoarseness
- Shortness of breath
Diagnosis of mediastinal tumors
Mediastinal masses are often found when a chest X-ray or other imaging test is performed for some other condition. Once they’ve been identified, MRI or CT scans are used to gather more information about the tumor.
If you’re diagnosed with a mediastinal tumor, your doctor will explain the exact location of your tumor and their recommendations for treatment.
Treatment for mediastinal tumors
If a benign tumor isn’t causing serious symptoms, mediastinal mass removal may not be recommended. Instead, the tumor will be monitored at regular intervals. For cancerous tumors, your doctor will recommend some combination of radiation therapy, chemotherapy or surgery.
Any surgery for mediastinal mass removal is serious because of the location near the heart. We’ll use minimally invasive thoracic surgery procedures when possible to ensure less pain, faster healing, smaller incisions and fewer complications from resection of a mediastinal tumor.
Video-assisted thoracic surgery
Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is a minimally invasive technique that may be used for resection of a mediastinal tumor. It uses a small tube called a thoracoscope which is inserted between ribs. The thoracoscope has a tiny camera that captures images inside the mediastinum. Other tubes that contain tools for the surgery are inserted between the ribs at different points in the chest wall.
Your thoracic surgery team will use images coming from the camera to find the tumor and guide the tools being used to perform a biopsy or remove the tumor.
Open surgery
Sometimes resection of a mediastinal tumor requires open surgery that involves cutting through your sternum or spreading your ribs apart. Open thoracic tumor surgery involves greater risk of infection, longer recovery time and more pain after the surgery. So we only use open surgery when necessary.
Get care
We help you live well. And we're here for you in person and online.