Mediastinal myelolipoma showing gradual enlargement over 9 years: a case report

BACKGROUND: Myelolipoma is a rare benign tumor composed of mature adipose tissue and normal hematopoietic tissue. Although surgical resection has been recommended due to the potential of progressive enlargement, the natural history of mediastinal myelolipoma has not yet been described. Herein we report a surgically resected mediastinal myelolipoma showing gradual enlargement over a period of 9 years. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year-old woman presented with a posterior mediastinal mass shadow detected by computed tomography (CT) examination. She had a medical history of sigmoidectomy for colon cancer 13 years previously. A CT scan showed a smooth, well-demarcated 2.8 × 2.1-cm paravertebral mass shadow, composed of a fat density area and a soft tissue density area, which showed gradual enlargement from a 1.6 × 1.0-cm nodule 9 years previously. This was not accompanied by chronic anemia or hematologic disease including thalassemia, and no abnormal accumulation was observed on bone marrow scintigraphy or fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography. With a clinical diagnosis of mediastinal myelolipoma, surgical resection was performed, and pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: We experienced a rare case with mediastinal myelolipoma showing gradual enlargement, with a tumor doubling time of 1,212 days.