The pattern of radiological findings in the mediastinum in CT chest

Abstract

This is a one year prospective study done in four major radiological centres in Nairobi, namely Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the Nairobi Hospital, Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Centre (MITC) and the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi. It was carried out on diverse dates from May 15t 1999 to April 30th 1000. There were a total of 101 patients studied out of 376 done CT chest in these four centres. Out of these, 28 were from KNH, Nairobi Hospital 27, MITC 40, and Aga Khan 6 patients. The overall male: female ratio was 2.48: 1 with an age range of 2 months to 80 years. Most patients were over 60 years (35.64%) and the commonest clinical presentation was chest pain (21.19%). In all patients, a chest radiograph had been done and the commonest finding was a widened mediastinum (34.11 %). Majority of the patients referred for CT Scan (23.76%), the clinicians did not give a specific clinical diagnosis. CT scan was able to delineate these masses and give a near exact diagnosis in the majority of these cases. CT scan showed most of the masses in the middle mediastinum (51.49%) and these were mainly lymph node enlargement. Most of the mediastinal masses (53.47%) were benign.