TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Mediastinal Cysts, Tumors, and Myasthenia Gravis A1 - Teich, Steven A1 - Aldrink, Jennifer H. A1 - Groner, Jonathan I. A2 - Ziegler, Moritz M. A2 - Azizkhan, Richard G. A2 - Allmen, Daniel von A2 - Weber, Thomas R. PY - 2014 T2 - Operative Pediatric Surgery, 2e AB - Robotic surgery offers advantages for the resection of selected solid mediastinal chest masses.A calcified mass in the posterior mediastinum is most commonly of neural cell origin.Neuroblastomas that arise in the mediastinum usually have a more favorable prognosis than those in other locations.A careful and thorough evaluation for potential airway obstruction is required prior to biopsy for patients with a large anterior mediastinal mass. Alternative sites of biopsy should be investigated if general anesthesia is of considerable risk.A calcified mass located within the anterior mediastinum is typically a teratoma.Complete surgical resection is the goal for mediastinal germ cell tumors.Mediastinal hemangiomas are rare causes of respiratory distress or feeding difficulties in infants. Propranolol may help shrink these lesions, but it has not been prospectively studied.Lymphatic malformations (cystic hygromas) are benign lesions that may envelop vital structures. Interventional radiology techniques offer highly effective treatment of macrocystic mediastinal lesions.The role of thymectomy for myasthenia gravis (MG) is controversial, and there is a lack of prospective studies documenting efficacy. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/15 UR - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1100433409 ER -