Background and objectives: Primary mediastinal masses account for 3% of all chest tumors. Given their varied clinical presentations and the need for accurate diagnosis, this study investigates the clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of children with primary mediastinal masses admitted to Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran, from 2011 to 2021.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 17 children under 18 years with primary mediastinal masses were examined using census sampling. Data were collected via a checklist covering age, sex, tumor location, symptoms, tumor type, treatment received, and malignancy status. Prognosis and survival were tracked. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22, employing Kaplan-Meier and Log-Rank tests for survival assessment.
Results: Among the 17 patients, 12 (70.6%) were girls and 5 (29.4%) boys. Five patients (29.4%) died during follow-up. Nine tumors (53%) were benign and eight (47%) malignant. Ganglioneuroma was the most frequent tumor (29.4%). Survival analysis revealed no statistically significant association between survival and surgery (P=0.222), malignancy status (P=0.158), neural origin (P=0.666), chemotherapy (P=0.057), radiotherapy (P=0.752), tumor location (P=0.661), sex (P=0.670), or age (P=0.877).
Conclusion: The study suggests that the distribution of histological types of primary mediastinal masses in children is influenced by anatomical location. However, factors such as age, sex, treatment type, and tumor location do not significantly affect survival outcomes in these patients.