An Analysis Of The Pattern Of Findings On The Mediastinum In The Computerised Tomography Chest In Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the pattern of findings in the Mediastinum in Computersied Tomography chest based on a study of major hospitals in Kenya. CT Scan chest was performed in patients suspected to have pathologies in the chest mediastinum. This was a one year prospective study done in four major radiological centres in Nairobi, namely Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the Nairobi Hospital, Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Centre (MITC) and the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi. It was carried out on diverse dates from May 1st 1999 to April 30th 2000. There were a total of 101 patients studied out of 376 done CT chest in these four centres. Out of these, 28 were from KNH, Nairobi Hospital 27, MITC 40, and Aga Khan 6 patients. The overall male: female ratio was 2.48:1 with an age range of 2 months to 80 years. Most patients were over 60 years (35.64%) and the commonest clinical presentation was chest pain (21.19%). The major finding was lymph node enlargement. In all patients, a chest radiograph had been done and the commonest finding was a widened mediastinum (34.11%). Majority of the patients referred for CT Scan (23.76%), the clinicians did not give a specific clinical diagnosis. CT scan was able to delineate these masses and give a near exact diagnosis in the majority of these cases. CT scan showed most of the masses in the middle mediastinum (51.49%) and these were mainly lymph node enlargement. Most of the mediastinal masses (53.47%) were benign. The study recommends that CT Scan chest should be done routinely in suspected chest mediastinal pathologies. The study contributes important knowledge to studies of the pathologies in the Mediastinum.