What is the significant x-ray finding on the above film?
Question 1 - Single Best Answer
What is the significant x-ray finding on the above film?
B) Widened superior mediastinum
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The superior mediastinum is not widened on this film. The mediastinum, the extrapleural space between the lungs, is the midregion of the thorax. The mediastinum is divided into the superior and three inferior components (anterior, middle and posterior). The superior mediastinum contains the arch of the aorta and the vessels arising from it, the brachiocephalic veins, upper portion of the superior vena cava, the trachea, the esophagus, the thoracic duct, the thymus and several nerves. The border between the superior and inferior is an arbitrary horizontal line drawn from the sternal angle back to the T4-T5 intervertebral disc. The causes of a widened superior mediastinum include aortic aneurysm and pseudoaneurysm, bronchogenic cysts, enlarged lymph nodes due to underlying infection or lymphoma, esophageal dilation or masses, teratomas, thymomas, substernal goiter, thyroid masses or extensive fat deposition. This excessive mediastinal fat generally occurs in the anterior mediastinum and generally results from obesity, but it may also result from exogenous steroids.