CTICasesPrimary Mediastinal Non-Seminomatous Germ Cell Tumor
▶ Watch on YouTube — age-restricted, cannot embed here
Imaging findings
Scout radiograph and chest CT demonstrate a massive, lobulated, relatively homogeneous anterior mediastinal mass in a young male. The tumor is highly aggressive, invading through the intercostal spaces of the anterior chest wall, involving the internal mammary lymph nodes, and demonstrating extensive, nodular pleural-surface metastases.
Key takeaways
Primary mediastinal germ cell tumors (GCTs) are divided into seminomas and non-seminomas. Non-seminomatous GCTs (such as embryonal carcinoma, yolk sac tumor, choriocarcinoma, or mixed GCTs) typically present as large, irregular, highly aggressive anterior mediastinal masses with areas of necrosis, local invasion, and metastatic disease. These tumors are highly associated with elevated serum tumor markers, particularly alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-HCG), which are diagnostic; a testicular ultrasound should always be performed to exclude a primary gonadal tumor with mediastinal metastasis.
AI-assisted summary — may contain errors. Verify against the source video. Learn more
More from this webinar
- Extrapleural Chest Wall LipomaNeoplastic
- Excipient Lung Disease from Methylphenidate or OxyContin InjectionExposure
- Ritalin Lung (Talc-Induced Panlobular Emphysema)Exposure
- Acute Infectious Discitis and Epidural AbscessInfection
- Primary Pulmonary HemosiderosisOther
- King Supraglottic Airway DeviceArtifact
- Ectopic Parathyroid ParagangliomaNeoplastic
- SDH-Mutation Related Multicentric ParagangliomasNeoplastic
See all cases from February 13, 2015 →