[A case of mediastinal parathyroid adenoma visible on standard pulmonary radiography (author's transl)]

Mediastinal adenomas form about 10 % of all parathyroid adenomas, and are only very rarely visualized in standard pulmonary radiograms. This was the case however in a 54-year-old woman with hyperparathyroidism, chronic renal insufficiency, and an anterosuperior mediastinal tumor. After surgical excision by sternotomy the mass was found to be a large parathyroid adenoma weighing 105 g and measuring 8 cm in diameter. The authors discuss the problems raised by mediastinal adenomas and review the cases reported in the published literature.