Clinicopathological study of primary mediastinal masses presented to a specialized hospital in Baghdad

BACKGROUND: Although rare, mediastinal masses contain many entities with broad clinical and pathological features. The International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group recommended a three-part mediastinum categorization. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of mediastinal masses, including nonneoplastic and neoplastic lesions, and their clinicopathological characteristics in a tertiary center.METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted in Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital included the histopathology archive of 76 cases of primary mediastinal lesions during the period between 2018-2023. Metastatic and corrosive esophageal lesions were excluded.RESULTS: Patients mean age was 29.5±17.9 years, ranging from 2 months to 68 years. In the anterior mediastinum, 20 thymomas (38.5%) and 20 lymphomas (38.5%) were identified. Non-neoplastic illnesses made for 9.6% of lesions, the third most common. In this compartment, 42 (80.8%) tumors were malignant. In the middle compartments, benign cysts were the most prevalent type of masses 6 (75%). The most prevalent tumor in the posterior compartments was neuroblastoma 7 (43.8%), followed by schwannoma 5 (31.3%). Eight (50%) of the masses in this compartment were malignant.CONCLUSIONS: The anterior mediastinum had the greatest lesions, followed by the posterior. Malignant tumors were more common in anterior compartments than in the center, although tumor behavior was unrelated to age or sex. Young patients had thymoma. Young individuals were more likely to have anterior mediastinum lymphoma.