[Vascular neoplasms of the mediastinum]

During a period of 42 years the authors had 44 patients with various vascular neoplasms of the mediastinum--angiomas. Experience in the treatment of 6 of them is discussed in B. V. Petrovsky's monograph Surgery of the Mediastinum (1960). The other 38 cases were distributed as follows: hemangiomas 28 (14 mature and 14 immature) and lymphangiomas 10 (all mature). The patients' ages ranged from 11 to 63 years, the duration of the anamnesis from 4 weeks to 40 years. Mediastinal angiomas are mainly encountered in children and young people, with equal frequency among females and males. Their clinico-radiological picture is diverse and unspecific, the diagnosis is established with difficulty. Surgery is the principal method of treatment. Radical removal of the tumor must be attempted. Radiologically-guided endovascular occlusion of the vessel supplying the tumor is possible in some cases. The late results of surgical treatment are good in cases of mature angiomas and depend on the radicalism of the operation in immature forms.