Discussion
Diagnosis With Brief Discussion
- Diagnosis
- Ganglioneuroma
- Radiologic Findings
- (1) Radiograph shows a double-contour of the right cardiac border (bulging of the right paraspinal line).
(2) Chest CT shows right-sided posterior mediastinal mass, measured 4.4x1.7x5.7 cm. This mass is relatively well-circumscribed and shows homogenous, poor enhancement (~30HU). T-spine MRI shows T1 low, T2 heterogeneous indeterminate, and STIR high signal intensity. On the enhanced T1 image, the mass shows marginal rim enhancement and poor central enhancement.
- Brief Review
- Ganglioneuromas (GN) are rare, slowly growing, asymptomatic benign tumors that originate from primitive neural crest cells, estimated to account for 0.1% to 0.5% of all CNS system tumors. GN are mainly distributed in the mediastinum (41.5%), retroperitoneum (37.5%), and neck (8%) as they arise from sympathetic ganglia along the spinal column and adrenal glands. Most commonly occurs in young age patient under 20 years old. GN contains heterogeneous compositions such as Schwann cells, mature ganglion cells, nerve fibers, and mucus matrix. Therefore, they appear as the heterogenous hypodense mass on CT scans. GN may contain puntate or discrete calcifications. On MRI, it shows hypointensity on T1WI, heterogeneous hyperintensity on T2WI, and hyperintensity on fat-suppression image. Surgical resection is the best treatment option and prognosis is usually good without complication.
- Please refer to
Case 807, Case 641, Case 637, Case 91, -
- References
- 1. Posterior Mediastinal Ganglioneuroma, Radiographics 2004; 24:594–597
2. Imaging Analysis of Ganglioneuroma and Quantitative Analysis of Paraspinal Ganglioneuroma, Med Sci Monit. 2019; 25: 5263–5271
3. Muller’s imaging of the chest, Elsevier, p1065-1066
- Keywords