Mediastinal goiter:

Anterior mediastinal masses can be known by the following

mnemonic:

3T                                              3L

-Thymic tumors.                   Lymphoma

-Thyroid tumors.                  Lymphangioma.

-Teratoma.                           Lymphocele.

Mediastinal goiter:

1-10% of mediastinal masses.

2-Usually in females.

3-Mediastinal lesion should be connected to a cervical goiter.

4-80% descend anterior to branches of aortic arch.

5-Rare turn malignant.

-X-ray chest PA.:

Shift of the trachea to the opposite site of the enlarged lobe.

A golden rule is that the only organ which can shift the trachea is the thyroid gland.

-CT coronal or sagital, you can see thyroid goiter extending into superior mediastinum.

The mass is heterogeneously hyper dense with strong enhancement.

To reports that a case is retro sternal goiter you should see the mass in the anterior mediastinum behind the sternum(important rule).

Radiologically, imaging cannot differentiate between benign and malignant nodules except by presence of the surrounding structures or metastatic lymphadenopathy.