10 See Path. Soc. London, 1884.
The historical literature of intra-thoracic morbid growths has been exhaustively reviewed in a monograph by Cockle, but until within the last fifteen years little attempt was made to separate mediastinal tumors into definite groups.
Our present knowledge on this subject was first shaped by Virchow,11 since which period numerous cases have been recorded.
11 Virchow's Archiv, Bd. xciii. Heft 3.
Sarcoma of the Mediastinum.—Primary sarcomatous growths are relatively uncommon. In 7566 cadavers examined at the Marine Hospital at Kronstadt there were found 158 malignant tumors, 127 being carcinomatous, the other 31 being sarcomatous. In 24 cases reported by Kahnlich, 13 occurred in the anterior mediastinal region, and a similar location was found in a case reported by the writer,12 also in one instance reported by West.13
12 Philada. Med. News, March 15, 1884.
13 Path. Soc. London, 1883.
The anterior mediastinal space is a favorite location for the origin of the purely sarcomatous form of tumor. Sarcoma may arise from a persistent thymus (as in cases reported by Gee, Church, and Powell), from the parietal or visceral layers of the pericardium or pleura, from the periosteum of the sternum, or from the mediastinal connective tissue.14
14 Kahnlich, loc. cit., describes 13 as originating in the connective tissue of the anterior mediastinum, 5 in the periosteum of the sternum, and 1 in the pericardial substance.