Mediastinal myelolipoma: CT and MRI appearances

Rib myelolipoma: a case report

BACKGROUND

Myelolipoma is an uncommon benign tumor composed of mature adipose tissue and hematopoietic elements. These tumors generally affect the adrenal glands, with anomalous presentations being rare and with few cases described in the literature. Most myelolipomas are asymptomatic and discovered incidentally, either through imaging tests or at autopsies. However, depending on the location and size of the lesion, myelolipomas can cause symptoms of mass effect. This article aims to report a very rare presentation of a symptomatic primary myelolipoma affecting the ribs.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 21-year-old white female patient presented with a complaint of burning chest pain over 3 months, with gradual worsening in intensity, accompanied by a progressively growing bulge in the right thoracic wall. The patient underwent thoracotomy of the fifth and sixth ribs with complete excision of the lesion with a safety margin. Thoracic wall reconstruction was performed using a polypropylene mesh. The patient had a good postoperative course and was discharged on postoperative day 3. Histopathological examination revealed a histological image consistent with myelolipoma.

CONCLUSIONS

This report underscores the importance of considering a myelolipoma diagnosis for tumor masses in the ribs.

A case of posterior mediastinal myelolipoma and a literature review of its imaging manifestations

Mediastinal myelolipoma is a rare condition and has no obvious symptoms. In the past 20 years, some clinical cases have been documented. However, the literature has not systematically summarized its imaging features. The aim of this paper is to present a case of right posterior mediastinal myelolipoma and to review and summarize its imaging features. Twenty-six articles were included in our study, which included a total of 26 patients and 33 lesions; 90.9% of the lesions were located in the mediastinum at the level from the 8th thoracic vertebral body to the thoracic 12th vertebral body. Among the cases with unilateral mediastinum, 68.4% of the cases were located in the right posterior mediastinum. Bilateral lesions accounted for almost one-fourth of all lesions. After contrast medium was injected, 93.9% of the lesions had mild to moderate enhancement; 84.8% of the lesions contained fat density; and 75.8%, 69.7%, 87.9%, and 75.8% of the lesions showed clear boundary, regular shape, heterogeneity and were encapsulated, respectively. Only 12.1% of the lesions contained calcification. An inhomogeneous mass in the right posterior mediastinum near the spine, including fat density, is the predominant imaging marker of most mediastinal myelolipomas.

Extramedullary Hematopoiesis Adjacent to Vertebral Fracture in a Patient with Pernicious Anemia: Support for a Mechanical Extrusion Mechanism

CASE

A 68-year-old woman presented with a paraspinal mass of indeterminate imaging characteristics. Workup and computed tomography-guided Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) aspiration revealed extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) adjacent to a prior compression fracture in the setting of pernicious anemia.

CONCLUSION

The combination of findings suggests a possible relationship of the compression fracture and the EMH because of traumatic extravasation of marrow contents, with the patient's underlying anemia possibly providing an underlying predisposition to EMH.

Surgical Management and Outcome of Extra-adrenal Myelolipomas at Unusual Locations: A Report of 11 Cases in a Single Center

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The first case series with eleven consecutive patients diagnosed with EAMs in the spinal or intraosseous regions.

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EAMs involving the thoracic vertebral body or the humerus have not previously been reported in the English literature.

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The surgical outcome and prognosis of EAMs are excellent and surgery can serve as the method of radical treatment.

Purpose

Extra-adrenal myelolipomas (EAMs) are rare benign tumors composed of both mature adipose and hematopoietic tissues with unclear etiology. There have been only sporadic case reports about the clinical characteristics and management of EAMs. Here we present our experience and practice in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of 11 consecutive patients with EAMs.

Method

We retrospectively reviewed 11 consecutive patients, who received surgeries in our department and were confirmed as having EAMs by postoperative histopathology from April 2016 to December 2021. Clinical information and follow-up data of all patients were collected and analyzed afterwards.

Results

Of the 11 EAM patients (7 male and 4 female) with a mean age of 47.6 years, 3 were asymptomatic and 8 were symptomatic with a mean symptom duration of 6.07 months. EAMs were found in the thoracic spine in 4 cases, paravertebral mediastinal regions in 3 cases, ilium in 2 cases, humerus in 1 case, and rib in 1 case. All patients were initially misdiagnosed as other tumors by radiologists. All 11 patients received gross total excision or curettage with a mean intraoperative blood loss of 781.82 ± 1143.3 ml and a mean operation duration of 180.91 ± 98.41 min. Patients’ Frankel scores and Karnofsky Performance Status score were improved or at least preserved postoperatively. No significant complications occurred postoperatively. All the 11 patients survived, and no local recurrence or distant metastasis occurred during the mean follow-up period of 42.0 months.

Conclusion

The surgical outcome and prognosis of EAMs are excellent and surgery can serve as the method of radical treatment.

A case of bilateral posterior mediastinal myelolipoma

A 71-year-old female presented with chronic shortness of breath and underwent routine examination at the emergency department. A plain chest radiograph revealed a large lobulated posterior mediastinal mass that was incidentally found to be unrelated to the main complaint. Further cross-sectional images were obtained to characterize the lesion, which revealed bilateral involvement of a prevertebral mixed attenuation large mass with minimal enhancement postcontrast administration. Images were not conclusive in which the patient underwent ultrasound-guided biopsy and further histopathological examination, which revealed a myelolipoma of the posterior mediastinum, a rare entity to be seen at that location. Here, we present the case of posterior mediastinal myelolipoma.

An unusual diagnosis of paravertebral lesions: mediastinal myelolipoma

Background

Mediastinal myelolipoma is extremely rare. It is a benign nonfunctioning tumor composed of hematopoietic tissue and mature fatty tissue. Although computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are effective in diagnosing mediastinal myelolipoma, a definitive diagnosis is difficult to establish for rare extra-adrenal myelolipomas by imaging alone. Such tumors are often misdiagnosed as malignant retropleural liposarcoma, denoting a poor prognosis.

Case presentation: We herein describe a 72-year-old man with multiple bilateral paravertebral mediastinal myelolipomas and discuss the imaging findings and differential diagnoses. We used a computed tomography-guided core biopsy to attain a preoperative diagnosis. Using this technique, we avoided an unnecessary surgical procedure for the patient’s asymptomatic and relatively small lesions.

Conclusions

Instead of biopsy by lesion excision, we advocate conducting a precisely targeted, minimally invasive computed tomography-guided core biopsy to obtain a definitive preoperative diagnosis and thus avoid unnecessary surgery for mediastinal myelolipoma, a benign nonfunctioning tumor.

A rare case of gradual enlargement of a multifocal myelolipoma of the posterior mediastinum for 12 years after surgical resection of an adrenal myelolipoma

INTRODUCTION

A myelolipoma is a rare benign tumor that is composed of adipose tissue and hematopoietic elements. Myelolipomas most commonly occur in the unilateral adrenal gland. Posterior mediastinal myelolipomas are extremely rare. We herein present a rare case of a multifocal myelolipoma of the mediastinum that gradually enlarged over a 12-year period after surgical resection of an adrenal myelolipoma. This is the first report of multifocal myelolipomas of the posterior mediastinum and adrenal gland.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

A posterior mediastinal tumor was incidentally found by chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) examination of a 74-year-old woman. The patient had a medical history of resection of a myelolipoma of the left adrenal gland 12 years earlier. We performed tumor extirpation under video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). The size of the tumor was 4.5 cm, and the postoperative diagnosis was a myelolipoma.

DISCUSSION

Posterior mediastinal myelolipomas are extremely rare, and only 39 cases of mediastinal myelolipoma have been reported to date. No reports have described a multifocal myelipoma of mediastinal myelolipoma. To our knowledge, this is the first report of multifocal myelipomas of the adrenal gland and posterior mediastinum.

CONCLUSION

A differential diagnosis of myelolipoma of the posterior mediastinum is important in patients with a history of myelolipoma of the adrenal gland.

Primary mediastinal myelolipoma: a case report and literature review

Myelolipoma is a kind of rare benign tumour composed of mature adipocytes and hemopoietic elements, and is most often found in the adrenal glands. Primary mediastinal myelolipoma (PMM) more rarely happens and has no definite symptoms, and mediastinal masses are usually found in chest examination. The patients normally receive a surgical resection and have a favorable prognosis after postoperative pathological diagnosis. Here, we present the case of PMM, which was resected via video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), and investigate recent correlative literatures to summarize its etiology, histopathology, differential diagnosis and therapeutic method. In this way, we aim to improve clinical doctors' understanding of this disease.

Mediastinal myelolipoma showing gradual enlargement over 9 years: a case report

Background

Myelolipoma is a rare benign tumor composed of mature adipose tissue and normal hematopoietic tissue. Although surgical resection has been recommended due to the potential of progressive enlargement, the natural history of mediastinal myelolipoma has not yet been described. Herein we report a surgically resected mediastinal myelolipoma showing gradual enlargement over a period of 9 years.

Case presentation

A 70-year-old woman presented with a posterior mediastinal mass shadow detected by computed tomography (CT) examination. She had a medical history of sigmoidectomy for colon cancer 13 years previously. A CT scan showed a smooth, well-demarcated 2.8 × 2.1-cm paravertebral mass shadow, composed of a fat density area and a soft tissue density area, which showed gradual enlargement from a 1.6 × 1.0-cm nodule 9 years previously. This was not accompanied by chronic anemia or hematologic disease including thalassemia, and no abnormal accumulation was observed on bone marrow scintigraphy or fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography. With a clinical diagnosis of mediastinal myelolipoma, surgical resection was performed, and pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis.

Conclusions

We experienced a rare case with mediastinal myelolipoma showing gradual enlargement, with a tumor doubling time of 1,212 days.

Primary myelolipoma in posterior mediastinum

Myelolipoma in posterior mediastinum is indeed rare. As a benign tumor, it consists of mature fat with scattered foci of haematopoietic elements resembling bone marrow. The computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are effective methods to detect them, while the definite diagnosis still depends on pathological diagnosis. Up to now, there is no standard treatment for this disease. Surgery is thought to be the best choice in some literatures reports. In this paper, two patients with primary posterior mediastinal tumor are reported, both of whom were underwent Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Postoperative pathological diagnosis was myelolipoma.

Bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery resection for multiple mediastinal myelolipoma: report of a case

Myelolipoma in the mediastinum is an extremely rare entity. In this report, we present the case of a 79-year-old asymptomatic man who had three bilateral paravertebral mediastinal tumors. The three tumors were resected simultaneously using bilateral three-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). There has been no evidence of recurrence within four years after the operation. Multiple bilateral mediastinal myelolipomas are extremely rare. There are no reports in the English literature of multiple bilateral thoracic myelolipomas that were resected simultaneously using bilateral VATS. We also present characteristic features of myelolipomas, which are helpful for diagnosis.

Primary mediastinal myelolipoma: A case report and review of the literature

Myelolipoma is a rare, benign neoplasm composed of mature adipocytes and hematopoietic tissue, mainly occurring in the adrenal glands. The majority of extra-adrenal myelolipomas have been identified in the presacral region and primary mediastinal myelolipoma is very rare. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are effective methods to detect myelolipoma, while fine-needle aspiration (FNA) combined pathology is able to definitively rule out malignancy. There is no standard method of treatment for the disease. Small (<4 cm) asymptomatic tumors should be monitored, while symptomatic tumors or large (>7 cm) myelolipomas should be removed by surgery. This study describes a patient who presented with two mediastinal myelolipomas that were not encapsulated and presented as a string-of-pearls-type. The pathological diagnosis was myelolipoma and the patient did not relapse within the three years following resection.

Primary mediastinal myelolipoma

Myelolipoma is a rare mesenchymal tumor composed of an admixture of fat and bone marrow-derived hematopoietic cells. It is typically an adrenal lesion, and mediastinal location is extremely unusual. We describe a 56-year-old man with nonspecific symptoms of cough and dyspnea and no underlying disease whose chest computed tomography showed a huge (25 x 15 cm) mediastinal tumor containing calcification. Surgical removal and subsequent pathologic examination of the tumor revealed myelolipoma. Primary myelolipoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of large posterior mediastinal tumors containing calcification.

Pulmonary myelolipoma

Myelolipoma is an extremely rare, benign pulmonary lesion, usually presenting as an asymptomatic pulmonary nodule. We describe myelolipoma of the lung in a 54-year-old man, present on roentgenogram for 20 years, and we review the natural history, pathology, diagnosis, and management of such lesions.