Benign fibrous mesothelioma of the pleura: MR imaging findings

Our plain-English summary of Benign fibrous mesothelioma of the pleura: MR imaging findings, by G.N. Harris, A. Rozenshtein, M.J. Schiff (AJR. American Journal of Roentgenology, 1995).

The study

• Authors: G.N. Harris, A. Rozenshtein, M.J. Schiff
• Journal: AJR. American Journal of Roentgenology
• Published: 1995;165(5):1143-4
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 22 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a case report describing what a benign fibrous mesothelioma of the pleura looked like on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The patient was a 68-year-old man with a 62 pack-year smoking history who had a persistent cough. A chest X-ray showed a 4-cm left hilar mass. CT showed a mass between the left pulmonary artery and the descending aorta. MR imaging showed a 3 x 3.2 x 2.5 cm mass with intermediate signal on T1-weighted images and predominantly low signal on T2-weighted images. It showed no signs of blood flow, which excluded a vascular mass such as an aneurysm. Bronchoscopy was inconclusive, so the left lower lobe of the lung was removed. Under the microscope the tumor was made of spindle cells consistent with a benign localized fibrous tumor of the pleura. The authors concluded that, in an appropriate clinical setting, MR images of a chest mass may be useful to establish the presence of a fibrous tumor. The article did not mention asbestos.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (one patient), describing MR imaging findings
• Who was studied: one 68-year-old man with a 62 pack-year smoking history who had a persistent cough, treated at North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY
• Exposure: Not applicable: the article reported the imaging of one tumor and did not mention asbestos or any occupational exposure.
• Main results:
  • The chest X-ray showed a 4-cm left hilar mass. CT showed a mass between the left pulmonary artery and the descending aorta.
  • MR imaging showed a 3 x 3.2 x 2.5 cm mass. It had intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted images and slightly heterogeneous but predominantly low signal intensity on T2-weighted images.
  • The MR sequences showed no signs of blood flow in the mass, which excluded a vascular mass such as an aneurysm.
  • Bronchoscopy was inconclusive, and a left lower lobectomy was performed.
  • The removed specimen measured 4.7 x 4.0 x 4.0 cm.
  • Under the microscope the tumor was composed of spindle cells consistent with benign localized fibrous tumor of the pleura.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that their case suggests that, in an appropriate clinical setting, MR images of a thoracic mass may be useful to establish the presence of a fibrous tumor.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Pleura.

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