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Case Reports
. 2012 Oct 10;4(4):e47.
doi: 10.4081/rt.2012.e47. Epub 2012 Nov 13.

Cholesterol granuloma of the anterior mediastinum with osseous metaplasia

Tarek Frederick Ezzat  1 , Salem Alowami
Affiliations
Case Reports

Cholesterol granuloma of the anterior mediastinum with osseous metaplasia

Tarek Frederick Ezzat et al. Rare Tumors. .

Abstract

Cholesterol granuloma is a well-characterized entity comprised of a foreign-body giant cell-reaction that forms in response to the presence of cholesterol crystals. It is usually found in the middle-ear or mastoid process in patients with diseases associated with chronic inflammation such as cholesteatoma and otitis media. They are rarely seen in the mediastinum. Osseous metaplasia is an exceedingly rare feature of cholesterol granulomas only reported twice in the literature. We report a case of a cholesterol granuloma of the anterior mediastinum with osseous metaplasia in a 75 year-old man that was found incidentally during urgent coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Keywords: benign.; granuloma; mediastinum; metaplasia; tumor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests: the authors report no potential conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Posteroanterior chest radiograph.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cholesterol granuloma, 40× magnification.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cholesterol granuloma with osseous metaplasia, 100× magnification.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cholesterol granuloma with osseous metaplasia, 100× magnification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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