Many people discover "dangerous" diseases from seemingly normal symptoms
Experts also recommended that she undergo a chest CT scan, which revealed that the woman had an anterior mediastinal tumor, large in size (approximately 68x43mm), along with several enlarged mediastinal and left hilum lymph nodes. Immediately after, the medical team at Chợ Rẫy Hospital performed a biopsy of the tumor.
The pathological examination revealed that the patient's tumor was a form of Lymphoma. After receiving active intervention, the patient stabilized and returned to work as usual.
"Lymphoma generally responds well to chemotherapy, so the prognosis for this patient is better than that for patient M.," the treating doctor said.
Dr. Cao Thị Hồng, a specialist in charge of the HECI Center at Chợ Rẫy Hospital, explained that the mediastinum is the central region of the chest, surrounded in front by the sternum and costal cartilage, behind by the thoracic vertebrae, on both sides by the pleura, below by the diaphragm, and above by the cervical region.
The mediastinum contains many vital organs, such as the heart, esophagus, trachea, large blood vessels, nerves, and the thymus.
Mediastinal tumors can be primary or secondary and may be benign or malignant, including pericardial cysts, teratomas, benign thymic tumors, thymic carcinoma, lymphoma, germ cell tumors, and neurogenic tumors.
Many people discover dangerous diseases from seemingly normal symptoms.
In the early stages, most patients have no symptoms because mediastinal tumors often grow silently.
In later stages, patients may develop symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty breathing when lying flat, hoarseness, wheezing, stridor, persistent coughing, sometimes coughing up blood, or difficulty swallowing due to the tumor pressing on the esophagus. Patients may also experience other clinical symptoms depending on the extent of the tumor’s pressure.
In addition to the risk of death if not treated in time, removing a mediastinal tumor is quite complex. Treatment of this condition requires multidisciplinary cooperation involving surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, and is typically carried out in specialized and general hospitals.
To detect and treat this condition early, doctors recommend that people have regular health check-ups, including chest X-rays or CT scans as needed.
