Haemangioma of the mediastinum.

Mediastinal masses not infrequently present themselves as problems for diagnosis. Benign vascular tumours of the mediastinum are rare. Adams and Bloch (1944) reported a case in which the tumour was incompletely removed at operation. The patient was alive and well four years later. The subject was reviewed by Seybold, McDonald, Clagett, and Harrington (1949), who collected 14 cases from the literature and added three of their own. In a more recent report, also from the Mayo Clinic, by Ellis, Kirklin, and Woolner (1955) the definition of benign haemangioma is more strictly applied to the reported cases, and many of those previously reviewed by Seybold and others are excluded because they showed evidence of malignancy. Ellis and others in their review of the literature have discovered 18 cases and add one of their own. Of these 19 cases, 11 have had the tumours removed surgically. However, in one of the two patients reported by Schlumberger (1951), a malignant mediastinal tumour developed subsequently. Thus only 10 cases of benign cavernous haemangioma of the mediastinum have had satisfactory surgical treatment. The present case is considered worthy of record in view of the rarity of the condition, and it is believed to be the first case successfully operated upon in Great Britain.